European bat Lyssavirus transmission among cats, Europe

Abstract

We identified 2 cases of European bat lyssavirus subtype 1 transmission to domestic carnivores (cats) in France. Bat-to-cat transmission is suspected. Low amounts of virus antigen in cat brain made diagnosis difficult.

Figure 1

Phylogenetic tree comparing nucleotide sequences of A) nucleoprotein (372 nt, position 63 from the translation initiation site) and B) glycoprotein (547 nt, position 640 from the translation initiation site) genes of spillover transmission of European bat lyssavirus-1 (EBLV-1) in terrestrial mammals and human with representative isolates of the diversity of EBLV-1 in Europe. Cases described in this report are indicated by the arrows. For each dataset, we inferred a maximum clade credibility phylogenetic tree by using the Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo method available in the Bayesian Evolutionary Analysis Sampling Trees software (http://beast.bio.ed.ac.uk). This analysis used a relaxed (uncorrelated lognormal) molecular clock and the HKY85 + Γ₄ model of nucleotide substitution. All horizontal branches are scaled according to the number of substitutions per site. Bootstrap values are indicated at the nodes. All GenBank accession numbers corresponding to full-length or partial nucleoprotein and glycoprotein nucleotide sequences were previously described (2,10) except for nucleoprotein nucleotide sequences of isolates 03011FRA (EU636795), 04032FRA (EU636794), 05001FRA (EU636790), 05002FRA (EU636789), 06001FRA (EU636791), 06002FRA (EU636792), and 070057FRA (EU636793) and glycoprotein nucleotide sequences of isolates 03011FRA (EU636787) and 04032FRA (EU636788).

Figure 2

Distribution of cats analyzed during 2004–2007 and of bats found positive for European bat lyssavirus (EBLV) in France during 1989–2007. Distribution of 1,506 cats tested during 2004–2007 by direct immunofluorescence antibody test, rabies tissue culture infection test, and an antigen-capture ELISA is given by district. Precise location of the 2 infected index (positive) cats and positive bats (n = 32) are indicated by circles and triangles, respectively, and associated with numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 for isolates 03011FRA, 03002FRA, 07240FRA, and 08120FRA, respectively. EBLV-1a and EBLV-1b isolates are indicated in black and white, respectively. Map was constructed by using Articque’s C&D software (www.articque.com) and published according to Articque's publication policy.