Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Feb 10;15(2):498.
doi: 10.3390/v15020498.

Detection and Characterization of an H9N2 Influenza A Virus in the Egyptian Rousette Bat in Limpopo, South Africa

Rochelle Rademan  1 , Marike Geldenhuys  1 , Wanda Markotter  1
Affiliations

Detection and Characterization of an H9N2 Influenza A Virus in the Egyptian Rousette Bat in Limpopo, South Africa

Rochelle Rademan et al. Viruses. .

Abstract

In recent years, bats have been shown to host various novel bat-specific influenza viruses, including H17N10 and H18N11 in the Americas and the H9N2 subtype from Africa. Rousettus aegyptiacus (Egyptian Rousette bat) is recognized as a host species for diverse viral agents. This study focused on the molecular surveillance of a maternal colony in Limpopo, South Africa, between 2017-2018. A pan-influenza hemi-nested RT-PCR assay targeting the PB1 gene was established, and influenza A virus RNA was identified from one fecal sample out of 860 samples. Genome segments were recovered using segment-specific amplification combined with standard Sanger sequencing and Illumina unbiased sequencing. The identified influenza A virus was closely related to the H9N2 bat-influenza virus, confirming the circulation of this subtype among Egyptian fruit bat populations in Southern Africa. This bat H9N2 subtype contained amino acid residues associated with transmission and virulence in either mammalian or avian hosts, though it will likely require additional adaptations before spillover.

Keywords: Egyptian Rousette bat; H9N2; South Africa; influenza A virus; surveillance.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Representation of the Bat/UPE556/RSA/2018 (H9N2) virus segments (Accession: MZ073285-MZ073290, HA: OQ216561) and the residue variations when compared to the Egyptian H9N2 bat-virus (MH376902-MH376909). The residues and their relative positions, as seen for the Egyptian H9N2 bat virus, are indicated above each segment, with the variations in red. The nucleotide length of the Bat/UPE556/RSA/2018 (H9N2) (indicated in bold) and the amino acid length are shown on the right of each segment. The black nucleotide- and amino acid length shown represents the Bat/UPE556/RSA/2018 (H9N2) virus, with the Egyptian H9N2 bat-virus indicated in green due to the size differences observed for the NA segment. Additionally, blue residues with their respective positions indicate insertions, as seen for the NA-segment of the Bat/UPE556/RSA/2018 (H9N2) virus.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Bayesian phylogenetic analysis of the HA-segment of the Bat/UPE556/RSA/2018 influenza virus (accession: OQ216561) within the H9 clade as indicated by the red star graphic. BEAST (v.1.10.4) was employed using the GTR + I + G substitution model (MCMC chain set at 15 million). All influenza A viruses of mammalian origin have been highlighted with color, with viral sequences from bats indicated in blue, viruses originating from humans highlighted in orange, viruses with a swine host indicated in green, and viruses detected in equine hosts indicated in purple.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Uyeki T.M., Bernstein H.H., Bradley J.S., Englund J.A., File T.M., Jr., Fry A.M., Gravenstein S., Hayden F.G., Harper S.A., Hirshon J.M. Clinical practice guidelines by the Infectious Diseases Society of America: 2018 update on diagnosis, treatment, chemoprophylaxis, and institutional outbreak management of seasonal influenza. Clin. Infect. Dis. 2019;68:e1–e47. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciy866. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. ICTV Family: Orthomyxoviridae. [(accessed on 12 December 2022)]. Available online: https://ictv.global/report_9th/RNAneg/Orthomyxoviridae.
    1. Tong S., Li Y., Rivailler P., Conrardy C., Castillo D.A.A., Chen L.-M., Recuenco S., Ellison J.A., Davis C.T., York I.A., et al. A distinct lineage of influenza A virus from bats. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2012;109:4269. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1116200109. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tong S., Zhu X., Li Y., Shi M., Zhang J., Bourgeois M., Yang H., Chen X., Recuenco S., Gomez J., et al. New World Bats Harbor Diverse Influenza A Viruses. PLoS Pathog. 2013;9:e1003657. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1003657. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Yoon S.-W., Webby R.J., Webster R.G. Evolution and Ecology of Influenza A Viruses. Influenza Pathog. Control. 2014;I:359–375. - PubMed

Publication types