Erratum: Johnson et al. Alston Virus, a Novel Paramyxovirus Isolated from Bats Causes Upper Respiratory Tract Infection in Experimentally Challenged Ferrets. Viruses 2018, 10, 675.

The authors wish to make the following corrections to this paper [...].

Characterization of Teviot virus, an Australian bat-borne paramyxovirus.

Bats are the reservoir hosts for multiple viruses with zoonotic potential, including coronaviruses, paramyxoviruses and filoviruses. Urine collected from Australian pteropid bats was assessed for the presence of paramyxoviruses. One of the viruses isolated was Teviot virus (TevPV), a novel rubulavirus previously isolated from pteropid bat urine throughout the east coast of Australia. Here, we further characterize TevPV through analysis of whole-genome sequencing, growth kinetics, antigenic relatedness and the experimental infection of ferrets and mice. TevPV is phylogenetically and antigenically most closely related to Tioman virus (TioPV). Unlike many other rubulaviruses, cell receptor attachment by TevPV does not appear to be sialic acid-dependent, with the receptor for host cell entry being unknown. The infection of ferrets and mice suggested that TevPV has a low pathogenic potential in mammals. Infected ferrets seroconverted by 10 days post-infection without clinical signs of disease. Furthermore, infected ferrets did not shed virus in any respiratory secretions, suggesting a low risk of onward transmission of TevPV. No productive infection was observed in the mouse infection study.

Alston Virus, a Novel Paramyxovirus Isolated from Bats Causes Upper Respiratory Tract Infection in Experimentally Challenged Ferrets.

Multiple viruses with zoonotic potential have been isolated from bats globally. Here we describe the isolation and characterization of a novel paramyxovirus, Alston virus (AlsPV), isolated from urine collected from an Australian pteropid bat colony in Alstonville, New South Wales. Characterization of AlsPV by whole-genome sequencing and analyzing antigenic relatedness revealed it is a rubulavirus that is closely related to parainfluenza virus 5 (PIV5). Intranasal exposure of mice to AlsPV resulted in no clinical signs of disease, although viral RNA was detected in the olfactory bulbs of two mice at 21 days post exposure. Oronasal challenge of ferrets resulted in subclinical upper respiratory tract infection, viral shedding in respiratory secretions, and detection of viral antigen in the olfactory bulb of the brain. These results imply that AlsPV may be similar to PIV5 in its ability to infect multiple mammalian host species. This isolation of a novel paramyxovirus with the potential to transmit from bats to other mammalian species reinforces the importance of continued surveillance of bats as a source of emerging viruses.

The Nature of Exposure Drives Transmission of Nipah Viruses from Malaysia and Bangladesh in Ferrets.

Person-to-person transmission is a key feature of human Nipah virus outbreaks in Bangladesh. In contrast, in an outbreak of Nipah virus in Malaysia, people acquired infections from pigs. It is not known whether this important epidemiological difference is driven primarily by differences between NiV Bangladesh (NiV-BD) and Malaysia (NiV-MY) at a virus level, or by environmental or host factors. In a time course study, ferrets were oronasally exposed to equivalent doses of NiV-BD or NiV-MY. More rapid onset of productive infection and higher levels of virus replication in respiratory tract tissues were seen for NiV-BD compared to NiV-MY, corroborating our previous report of increased oral shedding of NiV-BD in ferrets and suggesting a contributory mechanism for increased NiV-BD transmission between people compared to NiV-MY. However, we recognize that transmission occurs within a social and environmental framework that may have an important and differentiating role in NiV transmission rates. With this in mind, ferret-to-ferret transmission of NiV-BD and NiV-MY was assessed under differing viral exposure conditions. Transmission was not identified for either virus when naïve ferrets were cohoused with experimentally-infected animals. In contrast, all naïve ferrets developed acute infection following assisted and direct exposure to oronasal fluid from animals that were shedding either NiV-BD or NiV-MY. Our findings for ferrets indicate that, although NiV-BD may be shed at higher levels than NiV-MY, transmission risk may be equivalently low under exposure conditions provided by cohabitation alone. In contrast, active transfer of infected bodily fluids consistently results in transmission, regardless of the virus strain. These observations suggest that the risk of NiV transmission is underpinned by social and environmental factors, and will have practical implications for managing transmission risk during outbreaks of human disease.

Transmission routes for nipah virus from Malaysia and Bangladesh.

Human infections with Nipah virus in Malaysia and Bangladesh are associated with markedly different patterns of transmission and pathogenicity. To compare the 2 strains, we conducted an in vivo study in which 2 groups of ferrets were oronasally exposed to either the Malaysia or Bangladesh strain of Nipah virus. Viral shedding and tissue tropism were compared between the 2 groups. Over the course of infection, significantly higher levels of viral RNA were recovered from oral secretions of ferrets infected with the Bangladesh strain. Higher levels of oral shedding of the Bangladesh strain of Nipah virus might be a key factor in onward transmission in outbreaks among humans.