Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Meta Djomsi, Dowbiss
• Lacroix, Audrey
• Soumah, Abdoul Karim
• Kinganda Lusamaki, Eddy
• Mesdour, Asma
• Raulino, Raisa
• Esteban, Amandine
• Ndong Bass, Innocent
• Mba Djonzo, Flaubert Auguste
• Goumou, Souana
• Ndimbo-Kimugu, Simon Pierre
• Lempu, Guy
• Mbala Kingebeni, Placide
• Bamuleka, Daniel Mukadi
• Likofata, Jacques
• Muyembe Tamfum, Jean-Jacques
• Toure, Abdoulaye
• Mpoudi Ngole, Eitel
• Kouanfack, Charles
• Delaporte, Eric
• Keita, Alpha Kabinet
• Ahuka-Mundeke, Steve
• Ayouba, Ahidjo
• Peeters, Martine

Titel

Coronaviruses Are Abundant and Genetically Diverse in West and Central African Bats, including Viruses Closely Related to Human Coronaviruses

Ist Teil von

• Viruses, 2023-01, Vol.15 (2), p.337

Ort / Verlag

Switzerland: MDPI AG

Erscheinungsjahr

2023

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Bats are at the origin of human coronaviruses, either directly or via an intermediate host. We tested swabs from 4597 bats (897 from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), 2191 from Cameroon and 1509 from Guinea) with a broadly reactive PCR in the RdRp region. Coronaviruses were detected in 903 (19.6%) bats and in all species, with more than 25 individuals tested. The highest prevalence was observed in (239/733; 39.9%) and sp. (306/899; 34.1%), followed by sp. (61/291; 20.9%). Frugivorous bats were predominantly infected with beta coronaviruses from the Nobecovirus subgenus (93.8%), in which at least 6 species/genus-specific subclades were observed. In contrast, insectivorous bats were infected with beta-coronaviruses from different subgenera (Nobecovirus (8.5%), Hibecovirus (32.8%), Merbecovirus (0.5%) and Sarbecovirus (57.6%)) and with a high diversity of alpha-coronaviruses. Overall, our study shows a high prevalence and genetic diversity of coronaviruses in bats and illustrates that bats in Africa are infected at high levels with the Sarbecovirus subgenus, to which SARS-CoV-2 belongs. It is important to characterize in more detail the different coronavirus lineages from bats for their potential to infect human cells, their evolution and to study frequency and modes of contact between humans and bats in Africa.