Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Drexler, Jan Felix
• Corman, Victor Max
• Gloza-Rausch, Florian
• Seebens, Antje
• Annan, Augustina
• Ipsen, Anne
• Kruppa, Thomas
• Müller, Marcel A
• Kalko, Elisabeth K V
• Adu-Sarkodie, Yaw
• Oppong, Samuel
• Drosten, Christian
• Markotter, Wanda

Titel

Henipavirus RNA in African bats

Ist Teil von

• PloS one, 2009-07, Vol.4 (7), p.e6367-e6367

Ort / Verlag

United States: Public Library of Science

Erscheinungsjahr

2009

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Henipaviruses (Hendra and Nipah virus) are highly pathogenic members of the family Paramyxoviridae. Fruit-eating bats of the Pteropus genus have been suggested as their natural reservoir. Human Henipavirus infections have been reported in a region extending from Australia via Malaysia into Bangladesh, compatible with the geographic range of Pteropus. These bats do not occur in continental Africa, but a whole range of other fruit bats is encountered. One of the most abundant is Eidolon helvum, the African Straw-coloured fruit bat. Feces from E. helvum roosting in an urban setting in Kumasi/Ghana were tested for Henipavirus RNA. Sequences of three novel viruses in phylogenetic relationship to known Henipaviruses were detected. Virus RNA concentrations in feces were low. The finding of novel putative Henipaviruses outside Australia and Asia contributes a significant extension of the region of potential endemicity of one of the most pathogenic virus genera known in humans.