ABSTRACT
Bats are an important reservoir of several zoonotic diseases. However, the circulation of bat coronaviruses (BatCoV) in live animal markets in Indonesia has not been reported. Genetic characterization of BatCoV was performed by sequencing partial RdRp genes. Real-time polymerase chain reaction based on nucleocapsid protein (N) gene and Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay against the N protein were conducted to detect the presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) viral RNA and antibody, respectively. We identified the presence of BatCoV on Cynopterus brachyotis, Macroglossus minimus, and Rousettus amplexicaudatus. The results showed that the BatCoV included in this study are from an unclassified coronavirus group. Notably, SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA and antibodies were not detected in the sampled bats.
Subject(s)
Chiroptera/virology , Coronavirus/classification , Coronavirus/isolation & purification , Animals , Coronavirus/genetics , DNA, Viral/genetics , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay/veterinary , Indonesia , Nucleocapsid Proteins/genetics , Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction/veterinary , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction/veterinary , Species SpecificityABSTRACT
Coronavirus is a non-segmented, positive-stranded RNA virus with four main structural proteins, namely Spike (S), Membrane (M), Envelope (E), and Nucleocapsid (N) proteins. Coronavirus can cause diseases in the respiratory and digestive tract, as well as in central nervous system of animals and humans. There are four genera in the Orthocoronavirinae subfamily, including Alphacoronavirus, Betacoronavirus, Gammacoronavirus, and Deltacoronavirus. Alphacoronavirus and Betacoronavirus are commonly found in mammals, while Gammacoronavirus and Deltacoronavirus are found to infect� birds and mammals. Until 2018, zoonoses coronaviruses consisted of SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. Coronavirus became worldwide concern after it was identified as the cause of the pneumonia outbreak occurred at the end of 2019 in China. The coronavirus is associated with the fish market in Wuhan, then the disease is called COVID-19 (Coronavirus Infectious Diseases-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2. Virus SARS-CoV-2 has infected >1.6 million people around the world and until the end of March 2020, it caused more than 99.000 deaths including 3.512 cases with the total number of deaths to 306 in Indonesia. This paper discusses Coronavirus and scientific information related to Coronaviruses in which several variants are zoonoses.