Survey of Ebola Viruses in Frugivorous and Insectivorous Bats in Guinea, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2015–2017

Hélène M de Nys (1) , Placide Mbala Kingebeni (1, 2, 3) , Alpha Keita (1, 4) , Christelle Butel (1) , Guillaume Thaurignac (1) , Christian Julián Villabona-Arenas (1) , Thomas Lemarcis (1) , Mare Geraerts (1) , Nicole Vidal (1) , Amandine Esteban (1) , Mathieu Bourgarel (5) , François Roger (5) , Fabian Leendertz (6) , Ramadan Diallo (7) , Simon-Pierre Ndimbo-Kumugo (2) , Justus Nsio-Mbeta (8) , Nikki Tagg (9) , Lamine Koivogui (10, 11) , Abdoulaye Touré (1, 4, 10) , Eric Delaporte (1) , Steve Ahuka-Mundeke (2, 3) , Jean-Jacques Muyembe Tamfum (2, 3) , Eitel Mpoudi-Ngole (12, 13) , Ahidjo Ayouba (1) , Martine Peeters (1)

1 TransVIHMI - Recherches Translationnelles sur le VIH et les maladies infectieuses endémiques et émergentes
2 National Institute of Biomedical Research [Congo Kinshasa]
3 Cliniques Universitaires de Kinshasa [Congo]
4 CNFRSR - Centre National de Formation et de Recherche en Santé Rurale [Maférinyah, Guinée]
5 UMR ASTRE - Animal, Santé, Territoires, Risques et Ecosystèmes
6 RKI - Robert Koch Institute [Berlin]
7 Ministère de L'Elevage et des Productions Animales [Conakry, Guinée]
8 Direction de la Lutte contre la Maladie [Kinshasa, Cameroun]
9 RZSA - Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp
10 INSP - Institut National de Santé Publique [Conakry, Guinée]
11 Université Gamal Abdel Nasser de Conakry
12 IMPM - Institut de Recherches Médicales et d’Études des Plantes Médicinales [Yaoundé, Cameroon]
13 Centre Pasteur du Cameroun

To clarify the role of bats in the ecology of Ebola viruses, we assessed the prevalence of Ebola virus antibodies in a large-scale sample of bats collected during 2015-2017 from countries in Africa that have had previous Ebola outbreaks (Guinea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo) or are at high risk for outbreaks (Cameroon). We analyzed 4,022 blood samples of bats from >12 frugivorous and 27 insectivorous species; 2-37 (0.05%-0.92%) bats were seropositive for Zaire and 0-30 (0%-0.75%) bats for Sudan Ebola viruses. We observed Ebola virus antibodies in 1 insectivorous bat genus and 6 frugivorous bat species. Certain bat species widespread across Africa had serologic evidence of Zaire and Sudan Ebola viruses. No viral RNA was detected in the subset of samples tested (n = 665). Ongoing surveillance of bats and other potential animal reservoirs are required to predict and prepare for future outbreaks.

Mots clés: EVD; Ebola; Ebola virus; Ebola virus disease; Ebola virus infection; Eidolon helvum; Guinea; Hypsignathus monstrosus; Lissonycteris angolensis; Mops sp.; Zaire strain; cross-reactivity; cutoff; ecology; frugivorous bats; survey; the Democratic Republic of the Congo; viruses; zoonoses

Mots clés: Africa; Cameroon; Epomophorus gambianus; Luminex; Micropteropus pusillus; Rousettus aegyptiacus; Sudan strain; bats; insectivorous bats; serology; seroprevalence

Domaines: Santé publique et épidémiologie; Maladies émergentes; Maladies infectieuses; Virologie

Hélène M de Nys, Placide Mbala Kingebeni, Alpha Keita, Christelle Butel, Guillaume Thaurignac, et al.. Survey of Ebola Viruses in Frugivorous and Insectivorous Bats in Guinea, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2015–2017. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2018, 24 (12), pp.2228-2240. ⟨10.3201/eid2412.180740⟩. ⟨hal-01941405⟩