ABSTRACT
Dengue fever is caused by a flavivirus that primarily infects humans and Aedes sp. mosquitoes. However, viral replication in wild animals other than non-human primates has been scarcely studied. In this report, the susceptibility of Artibeus intermedius frugivorous bat to serotype-2 dengue virus (DENV-2) infection was tested. Twenty-three bats were intraperitoneally inoculated with different viral loads of DENV-2 (New Guinea-C strain). Forty-three percent of the infected bats developed bruises on the chest or on the wings. Histological analyses showed structural alterations in the spleen and bleeding in liver and intestine, but the virus was not detected by RT-PCR in any of the analyzed tissues, and it was found in only one bat (kidney) by semi-nested RT-PCR. In sera, the viral RNA was detected by semi-nested RT-PCR in 39% of bats, but only 8% of bats seroconverted. Overall, these data indicate that DENV-2 replicates poorly in these bats, suggesting they are not suitable hosts to this virus.
Subject(s)
Chiroptera/virology , Dengue Virus , Dengue/veterinary , Animals , Antibodies, Viral/immunology , Dengue/immunology , Dengue/pathology , Dengue Virus/genetics , Dengue Virus/immunology , Female , Hematoma/pathology , Male , RNA, Viral , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , Spleen/pathology , Viral LoadABSTRACT
Individuals belonging to five families, 12 genera, and 19 different species of bats from dengue endemic areas in the Gulf and Pacific coasts of Mexico were examined by ELISA, RT-PCR, and for the presence of dengue virus (DV) NS1 protein. Nine individuals from four species were seropositive by ELISA: three insectivorous, Myotis nigricans (four positives/12 examined), Pteronotus parnellii (3/19), and Natalus stramineus (1/4), and one frugivorous Artibeus jamaicensis (1/35) (12.86% seroprevalence in positive species). DV serotype 2 was detected by RT-PCR in four samples from three species (all from the Gulf coast - rainy season): two frugivorous, A. jamaicensis (2/9), and Carollia brevicauda (1/2), and one insectivorous, M. nigricans (1/11). The latter was simultaneously positive for NS1 protein. DV RT-PCR positive animals were all antibody seronegative. M. nigricans showed positive individuals for all three tests. This is the first evidence suggesting the presence of DV in bats from Mexico.
