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. 2019 Oct 31;13(10):e0007733.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0007733. eCollection 2019 Oct.

Filovirus-reactive antibodies in humans and bats in Northeast India imply zoonotic spillover

Pilot Dovih  1   2 , Eric D Laing  3 , Yihui Chen  4 , Dolyce H W Low  4   5 , B R Ansil  1   6 , Xinglou Yang  7 , Zhengli Shi  7 , Christopher C Broder  3 , Gavin J D Smith  4 , Martin Linster  4 , Uma Ramakrishnan  1 , Ian H Mendenhall  4
Affiliations

Filovirus-reactive antibodies in humans and bats in Northeast India imply zoonotic spillover

Pilot Dovih et al. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Bats are reservoirs for several zoonotic pathogens, including filoviruses. Recent work highlights the diversity of bat borne filoviruses in Asia. High risk activities at the bat-human interface pose the threat of zoonotic virus transmission. We present evidence for prior exposure of bat harvesters and two resident fruit bat species to filovirus surface glycoproteins by screening sera in a multiplexed serological assay. Antibodies reactive to two antigenically distinct filoviruses were detected in human sera and to three individual filoviruses in bats in remote Northeast India. Sera obtained from Eonycteris spelaea bats showed similar patterns of cross-reactivity as human samples, suggesting them as the species responsible for the spillover. In contrast, sera from Rousettus leschenaultii bats reacted to two different virus glycoproteins. Our results indicate circulation of several filoviruses in bats and the possibility for filovirus transmission from bats to humans.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Geographical map of the border region between India and Myanmar.
The Indian state of Nagaland and Mimi village are indicated. The map was created using QGIS v2.18.7 software (https://qgis.org/en/site/). The India shapefile was downloaded from the India Remote Sensing and GIS website (http://www.indianremotesensing.com/) and the Bangladesh and Myanmar shapefiles were downloaded from DIVA-GIS (http://www.diva-gis.org/gdata). All layers were in the geographic coordinate system WGS 84 and all software and map layers used are open access.
Fig 2
Fig 2
MFI values for sera obtained from humans (A), Eonycteris spelaea (B), Rousettus leschenaultii (C). Antibodies reactive to filovirus GPe from Ebola virus (EBOV), Bundibugyo virus (BDBV), Taï Forest virus (TAFV), Sudan ebolavirus (SUDV), Reston virus (RESTV), Lloviu virus (LLOV), Měnglà virus (MLAV), Marburg virus (MARV), and Ravn virus (RAVV) are quantified in a bead-based fluorescence assay. Grey dots represent individual samples. A boxplot is overlaid to indicate median, quartiles and extremes of the sample distribution. A black dashed line indicates the cutoff determined from a single lognormal curve-fit and a black solid black line the three-fold increase over the mean. A cladogram in panel A indicates the phylogenetic relationships of individual filovirus GPe based on their amino acid sequence.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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