Bat lyssavirus should be further monitored in Rondônia state, Brazil

Dear Editor:

The article entitled “Rabies virus monitoring in bat populations in Rondônia state, Brazil” is very interesting¹. Almeida et al¹ conducted a molecular and serological assessment for the presence of the rabies virus in bats in the area surrounding the Jirau hydroelectric power plant in Rondônia state, Brazil. They found that all 1,183 bat brains analyzed were negative for the presence of rabies virus, and antibodies were noted in 17.5% of 1,049 bats. Environmental changes can indicate an increased risk of a rabies outbreak and circulation in bats. Despite its strengths, the study contains a technical issue that needs to be further addressed.

This study focused on rabies virus, and bat brain and blood samples were collected between 2010 and 2015. Bat brain and blood samples were valuable and rare in terms of scientific significance; thus, the lyssavirus should be further monitored in Brazil. According to the study, “Rabies diagnosis was made using a fluorescent antibody test FAT,” only one test was used to assess the presence of the rabies virus. Heminested PCR assays should also be used for the detection of six genotypes of rabies and rabies-related viruses^2-4. A similar study of lyssavirus was conducted in bats in Croatia and Southeastern Europe⁵.

Rabies viruses belong to the genus Lyssavirus. Base on the literature, 16 Lyssavirus species, excluding Ikoma lyssavirus and Mokola lyssavirus, have been reported in bats^6,7. Kotalahti bat lyssavirusand Taiwan bat lyssavirus were recently isolated from bats^8,9, thus indicating that lyssaviruses are distributed across the world. In Brazil, bat rabies surveillance has been performed in several different regions and bat species; however, no study on bat lyssavirus can be found in the literature. Therefore, we strongly advise that the surveillance of bat lyssavirus should be performed in Brazil.

REFERENCES

• ¹
  Almeida MF, Rosa ARD, Martorelli LFA, Kataoka APAG, Aires CC. Rabies virus monitoring in bat populations in Rondônia state, Brazil. Rev Soc Bras Med Trop. 2019;52,e20180199. Epub August 01, 2019. https://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0037-8682-0199-2018.
  » https://doi.org/https://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0037-8682-0199-2018
• ²
  Heaton PR, Johnstone P, Elhinney LMMC, Cowley ROY, Sullivan EO, Whitby JE. Heminested PCR assay for detection of six genotypes of rabies and rabies-related viruses. J Clin Microbiol. 1997;35(11):2762-6.
• ³
  Liu Y, Zhang S, Zhao J, Zhang F, Hu R. Isolation of Irkut Virus from a Murina leucogaster Bat in China. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2013;7(3):e2097. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0002097.
  » https://doi.org/0.1371/journal.pntd.0002097
• ⁴
  Meslin FX, Kaplan MM, Koprowski H. Laboratory Techniques in Rabies. 4h edition. Geneva: World Health Organization. 1996;80-168p.
• ⁵
  Šimić I, Lojkić I, Krešić N,Cliquet F, Picard-Meyer E, Wasniewski M, et al. Molecular and serological survey of lyssaviruses in Croatian bat populations. BMC Vet Res. 2018;14(1):274. Published 2018 Sep 6. doi:10.1186/s12917-018-1592-z.
  » https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-018-1592-z
• ⁶
  Banyard AC, Hayman D, Johnson N, McElhinney L, Fooks AR. Bats andlyssaviruses. Adv Virus Res. 2011;79:239-89.
• ⁷
  Banyard AC, Hayman DT, Freuling CM, Muller T, Fooks AR, Johnson N. Batrabies. In: Jackson AC, editor. Rabies: scientific basis of the disease and its management. Oxford: Academic Press; 2013. p. 215-68.
• ⁸
  Nokireki T, Tammiranta N, Kokkonen UM, Kantala T, Gadd T. Tentative novel lyssavirus in a bat in Finland. Transbound Emerg Dis. 2018;65(3):593-6.
• ⁹
  Hu SC, Hsu CL, Lee MS, Tu YC, Chang JC, Wu CH, et al. Lyssavirus in Japanese Pipistrelle, Taiwan. Emerg Infect Dis. 2018;24(4):2016-9.

• Financial Support: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31802202 and 31941016) and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFD0500401).

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  22 Apr 2020
• Date of issue
  2020

History

• Received
  04 Sept 2019
• Accepted
  09 Mar 2020