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EBOLAVIRUS-LIKE FILOVIRUS - SPAIN: (ASTURIAS) BAT
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A ProMED-mail post
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ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org


Date: Fri 21 Oct 2011
Source: CIDRAP (Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy) News
[edited]
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/conten ... sscan.html


New ebolavirus-like filovirus found in Spain
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Spanish and US scientists have discovered a new ebolavirus-like
filovirus in Spain, the 1st known detection of such a virus outside
sub-Saharan Africa and the Philippines. Reporting in PLoS Pathogens
yesterday [20 Oct 2011], they describe identifying the virus in a
specimen from a dead common bent-wing bat (_Miniopterus schreibersii_)
during an investigation of bat die-offs in southern Europe. They named
the novel pathogen Lloviu virus (LLOV) after the Cueva del Lloviu
region in which the bat was found. They write, "LLOV is genetically
distinct from other marburgviruses and ebolaviruses and is the 1st
filovirus detected in Europe that was not imported from an endemic
area in Africa." Filoviruses are among the most lethal of pathogens in
primates, including humans.

[The citation for this paper is: Negredo A, Palacios G, Vazquez-Moron
S, Gonzalez F, Dopazo H, et al. Discovery of an Ebolavirus-Like
Filovirus in Europe. PLoS Pathog 2011; 7(10): e1002304.
doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1002304
http://www.plospathogens.org/article/in ... at.1002304.

The authors' summary reads: "A novel filovirus, provisionally named
Lloviu virus (LLOV), was detected during the investigation of
_Miniopterus schreibersii_ die-offs in Cueva del Lloviu in southern
Europe. LLOV is genetically distinct from other marburgviruses and
ebolaviruses and is the 1st filovirus detected in Europe that was not
imported from an endemic area in Africa. Filoviruses, amongst the most
lethal of primate pathogens, have only been reported as natural
infections in sub-Saharan Africa and the Philippines. Infections of
bats with the ebolaviruses and marburgviruses do not appear to be
associated with disease. Here we report identification of genetically
distinct filovirus in dead insectivorous bats in caves in Spain." -
Mod.CP

--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail


[Points from the authors' discussion include the following:
"Filoviruses cause lethal haemorrhagic fever in humans and nonhuman
primates. The family _Filoviridae_ includes 2 genera: _Marburgvirus_,
comprising various strains of the Lake Victoria marburgvirus (MARV);
and _Ebolavirus_ (EBOVs), comprising 4 species including Sudan
ebolavirus (SEBOV), Zaire ebolavirus (ZEBOV), Ivory Coast ebolavirus
(CIEBOV), and Reston ebolavirus (REBOV); and a tentative species
Bundibugyo ebolavirus (BEBOV).

MARV was discovered in 1967 in Marburg, Germany during an outbreak in
laboratory staff exposed to tissues from monkeys imported from Uganda.
ZEBOV was discovered in 1976 in Yambuku, Zaire during a 312-person
outbreak associated with 90 per cent mortality.

With the exception of REBOV, that appears to be pathogenic in nonhuman
primates but not in humans and is endemic in the Philippines, all
known filoviruses are pathogenic in primates including humans and are
endemic in Africa.

Bats are implicated as reservoirs and vectors for transmission of
filoviruses in Africa. ZEBOV sequences have been found in fruit bats
(_Hypsignathus monstrosus_, _Epomops franqueti_, and _Myonycteris
torquata_). MARV sequences have been found in fruit (_Rousettus
aegyptiacus_) and insectivorous (_Rhinolophus eloquens_ and
_Miniopterus inflatus_) bats. Bats naturally or experimentally
infected with ZEBOV or MARV are healthy and shed virus in their feces
for up to 3 weeks."

"The discovery of LLOV in _M. schreibersii_ is consistent with
filovirus tropism for bats. However, unlike MARV and EBOV, where
asymptomatic circulation is posited to be consistent with evolution to
avirulence in this long-term host-parasite relationships, several
observations suggest that in the case of LLOV, filovirus infection may
be pathogenic. LLOV was found in the affected bat population (_M.
schreibersii_) but not in other healthy _M. schreibersii_ or in bats
of other species that cohabited the same caves (_M. myotis_)."

"Phylogenetic analysis of conserved domain III of the RNA-dependent
RNA polymerase confirms that LLOV belongs to the _Filoviridae_ and may
represent a complex of viruses related to all EBOVs. Phylogenetic
analysis of complete genome sequences (roughly 21 800 nucleotides)
confirmed that LLOV is a distinct genetic lineage that originates
after MARV."

"Recently, the discovery of integrated filovirus elements has led to
the proposal that filoviruses have co-evolved with mammals over
millions of years. Phylogenetic analyses of LLOV indicate a common
ancestor of all filoviruses at least 150 000 years ago."

"The sudden outbreak of bat die-offs in Spain that precipitated this
study destroyed several bat colonies in less than 10 days. Although we
have not demonstrated a causal relationship between LLOV and mortality
in _M. schreibersii_, the discovery of a novel filovirus in western
Europe, and the wide geographical distribution of the associated
insectivorous bat is a significant concern. While the virus was
detected in the north of Spain, simultaneous bat die-offs also have
been observed in Portugal and France."

Cueva del Lloviu is located in the Principality of Asturias, Spain,
which can be located in the HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map at
http://healthmap.org/r/1mjX. - Mod.CP]

EBOLAVIRUS-LIKE FILOVIRUS - SPAIN (02): (ASTURIAS), BAT
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A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org


Date: Sun 23 Oct 2011
From: Paul Reiter [edited]


Worth noting is that many species of bats are migratory, and some fly
for very long distances. The species in question, the Bent-winged bat
[_Miniopterus schreibersii_], does migrate across open sea (for
example, a recapture of a bat in southern Spain that was released in
the Balearic Islands). Some species of bat migrate regularly from the
southern United States and southern Mexico.

A die-off in southern Europe could signal the introduction of an
exotic virus, much as occurred with West Nile virus in the New World.

--
Paul Reiter


[ProMED-mail thanks Paul Reiter for this very relevant comment.

The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spanish islands in the
western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian
Peninsula. The principal Balearic Islands are Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza,
and Formentera. The Balearic Islands can be located in the
HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map at
http://healthmap.org/r/1mml. - Mod.CP]