Brno loanvirus (BRNV) in bats inhabiting the urban area of Brno, Czech Republic

Bats are known reservoirs of various emerging pathogens, and have recently been found to host a novel hantavirus, named Brno loanvirus (BRNV), from the Mammantavirinae subfamily (family Hantaviridae, order Bunyavirales). Here we report BRNV detection in bats from the urban area of Brno, Czech Republ...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Infection, Genetics and Evolution
Main Authors: Fořtová Andrea, Straková Petra, Haviernik Jan, Svoboda Pavel, Bartonička Tomáš, Kvičerová Jana, Růžek Daniel, Salát Jiří
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Elsevier Science 2024
Subjects:
Brno loanvirus
Bats
Hantavirus
Nyctalus noctula
Online Access:https://is.muni.cz/publication/2416482
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meegid.2024.105604
Description
Summary:Bats are known reservoirs of various emerging pathogens, and have recently been found to host a novel hantavirus, named Brno loanvirus (BRNV), from the Mammantavirinae subfamily (family Hantaviridae, order Bunyavirales). Here we report BRNV detection in bats from the urban area of Brno, Czech Republic in March 2022. Specifically, we uncovered a high prevalence of BRNV (8.8%, 5/57) among hibernating bats (Nyctalus noctula) in urban area, which poses a risk of human exposure. The positive bats included adult females (3/9 positive), a juvenile female (1/32 positive), and an adult male (1/6 positive). All 10 juvenile males were negative. We used RT-qPCR to quantify the BRNV RNA levels in various bat organs, which yielded positive results for viral RNA in organs, including the kidneys, heart, spleen, brain, liver, lung, and gut, and in body cavity fluid. Among all tested organs, the liver showed the highest levels of viral RNA in 4 out of 5 animals examined (average Ct value of 20.8 ± 7.4).

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