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. 2012 Oct 13:9:236.
doi: 10.1186/1743-422X-9-236.

Serological evidence of ebolavirus infection in bats, China

Junfa Yuan  1 , Yuji Zhang, Jialu Li, Yunzhi Zhang, Lin-Fa Wang, Zhengli Shi
Affiliations

Serological evidence of ebolavirus infection in bats, China

Junfa Yuan et al. Virol J. .

Abstract

Background: The genus Ebolavirus of the family Filoviridae currently consists of five species. All species, with the exception of Reston ebolavirus, have been found in Africa and caused severe human diseases. Bats have been implicated as reservoirs for ebolavirus. Reston ebolavirus, discovered in the Philippines, is the only ebolavirus species identified in Asia to date. Whether this virus is prevalent in China is unknown.

Findings: In this study, we developed an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for ebolavirus using the recombinant nucleocapsid protein and performed sero-surveillance for the virus among Chinese bat populations. Our results revealed the presence of antibodies to ebolavirus in 32 of 843 bat sera samples and 10 of 16 were further confirmed by western blot analysis.

Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first report of any filovirus infection in China.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Characterization of the truncated recombinant nucleocapsid protein of RESTV (Reston-NP) and EBOV (Zaire-NP). Coomassie staining (A) and western blot analysis (B) of purified proteins separated by 10% SDS-PAGE. Lane M: molecular weight markers from Fermentas; Lane 1: Reston-NP; Lane 2: Zaire-NP. (C) ELISA analysis of Reston-NP and Zaire-NP using hyperimmune rabbit sera raised against the full-length Reston-NP.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of OD450readings and antibody titers among different positive bat sera. The left panel shows the corrected OD450 readings at a serum dilution of 1:100. The right panel displays the antibody titers at an OD450 reading equal or greater than 0.19 (> 2-fold – ve sera). The number of sera at each OD450 or titer reading is shown to the right of the proportionally sized dots.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Western-blot analysis of ELISA positive serum samples with recombinant Reston-NP and Zaire-NP expressed inE. coli. The polyclonal antibody against the full-length nucleocapsid protein of RESTV was used as positive control. Sample no. 2195 was ELISA negative and used as negative control. The other 5 samples were western blot positive. Note: western blot no.1487, 1552, 1689, 1973 and 2166 is not presented due to the absence of signal in the scanned photograph.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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