Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Middleton, D.J.
• Morrissy, C.J.
• van der Heide, B.M.
• Russell, G.M.
• Braun, M.A.
• Westbury, H.A.
• Halpin, K.
• Daniels, P.W.

Titel

Experimental Nipah Virus Infection in Pteropid Bats ( Pteropus poliocephalus)

Ist Teil von

• Journal of comparative pathology, 2007-05, Vol.136 (4), p.266-272

Ort / Verlag

England: Elsevier Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2007

Quelle

Access via ScienceDirect (Elsevier)

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Seventeen grey-headed fruit bats ( Pteropus poliocephalus) were inoculated subcutaneously with an isolate of Nipah virus derived from a fatally infected human. A control group of eight guinea-pigs was inoculated intraperitoneally with the same isolate in order to confirm virulence. Three of eight infected guinea-pigs developed clinical signs 7–9 days post-inoculation. Infected fruit bats developed a subclinical infection characterized by the transient presence of virus within selected viscera, episodic viral excretion and seroconversion. A range of histopathological changes was observed within the tissues of infected bats. Nipah virus was excreted in bat urine while neutralizing antibody was present in serum. This intermittent, low-level excretion of Nipah virus in the urine of bats may be sufficient to sustain the net reproductive value of the virus in a species where there is regular urine contamination of the fur, mutual grooming, and where urine droplets are a feature of the environment.