TY - JOUR
T1 - Evidence for henipavirus spillover into human populations in Africa
AU - Pernet, Olivier
AU - Schneider, Bradley S.
AU - Beaty, Shannon M.
AU - Lebreton, Matthew
AU - Yun, Tatyana E.
AU - Park, Arnold
AU - Zachariah, Trevor T.
AU - Bowden, Thomas A.
AU - Hitchens, Peta
AU - Ramirez, Christina M.
AU - Daszak, Peter
AU - Mazet, Jonna
AU - Freiberg, Alexander N.
AU - Wolfe, Nathan D.
AU - Lee, Benhur
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Beth Nasse and the Brevard Zoo for providing captive-bred bat sera. We also acknowledge Terry Juelich, Jennifer Smith and Lihong Zhang for their help with the GLuc construct, and thank all the members of the Lee laboratory for their input and suggestions. This project was funded by the Pacific Southwest Regional Center of Excellence (PSWRCE) U54 AI065359 and NIH grant AI069317. Metabiota/Global Viral’s role in this study was supported by Google.org, the Skoll Foundation and in particular the US Agency for International Development (USAID); USAID’s funding was made possible by the generous support of the American people through the USAID Emerging Pandemic Threats PREDICT program. The authors acknowledge the valuable contributions of the staff of Global Viral Cameroon under the supervision of Ubald Tamoufe. the Cameroon Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation, the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife and the Ministry of Health provided support and authorizations for this research.
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Zoonotic transmission of lethal henipaviruses (HNVs) from their natural fruit bat reservoirs to humans has only been reported in Australia and South/Southeast Asia. However, a recent study discovered numerous HNV clades in African bat samples. To determine the potential for HNV spillover events among humans in Africa, here we examine well-curated sets of bat (Eidolon helvum, n=44) and human (n=497) serum samples from Cameroon for Nipah virus (NiV) cross-neutralizing antibodies (NiV-X-Nabs). Using a vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV)-based pseudoparticle seroneutralization assay, we detect NiV-X-Nabs in 48% and 3-4% of the bat and human samples, respectively. Seropositive human samples are found almost exclusively in individuals who reported butchering bats for bushmeat. Seropositive human sera also neutralize Hendra virus and Gh-M74a (an African HNV) pseudoparticles, as well as live NiV. Butchering bat meat and living in areas undergoing deforestation are the most significant risk factors associated with seropositivity. Evidence for HNV spillover events warrants increased surveillance efforts.
AB - Zoonotic transmission of lethal henipaviruses (HNVs) from their natural fruit bat reservoirs to humans has only been reported in Australia and South/Southeast Asia. However, a recent study discovered numerous HNV clades in African bat samples. To determine the potential for HNV spillover events among humans in Africa, here we examine well-curated sets of bat (Eidolon helvum, n=44) and human (n=497) serum samples from Cameroon for Nipah virus (NiV) cross-neutralizing antibodies (NiV-X-Nabs). Using a vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV)-based pseudoparticle seroneutralization assay, we detect NiV-X-Nabs in 48% and 3-4% of the bat and human samples, respectively. Seropositive human samples are found almost exclusively in individuals who reported butchering bats for bushmeat. Seropositive human sera also neutralize Hendra virus and Gh-M74a (an African HNV) pseudoparticles, as well as live NiV. Butchering bat meat and living in areas undergoing deforestation are the most significant risk factors associated with seropositivity. Evidence for HNV spillover events warrants increased surveillance efforts.
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U2 - 10.1038/ncomms6342
DO - 10.1038/ncomms6342
M3 - Article
C2 - 25405640
AN - SCOPUS:84920794111
VL - 5
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
SN - 2041-1723
M1 - 5342
ER -