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. 2024 Dec;21(2-4):125-140.
doi: 10.1007/s10393-024-01688-5. Epub 2024 Nov 23.

Detection and Prevalence of Coronaviruses in European Bats: A Systematic Review

Mahima Hemnani  1 , Priscilla Gomes da Silva  1   2   3   4   5 , Gertrude Thompson  1   6 , Patrícia Poeta  7   8   9   10 , Hugo Rebelo  6 , João R Mesquita  11   12   13
Affiliations

Detection and Prevalence of Coronaviruses in European Bats: A Systematic Review

Mahima Hemnani et al. Ecohealth. 2024 Dec.

Abstract

Bats are known hosts for a wide range of coronaviruses (CoVs), including those that cause severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-1) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV). With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, it has become increasingly important to understand the diversity and prevalence of CoVs in bat populations. This systematic review aimed to compile studies that have sampled CoVs from bats across Europe and assessed various aspects related to the testing of bat samples, including the country where the bats were collected, the CoV genomic region studied, the CoV genera that were detected, and the identification of bat species that were found to be carrying CoV. We identified 30 studies that assessed CoVs presence in bats across multiple countries including Italy, Germany, and various other nations with one or two studies each, which tested them for CoVs using a variety of matrices. CoVs were found in nine genera of bats, and the genomic regions included RdRp, ORF1a gene, as well as full genome, detecting α- and/or β-CoVs, with most of them being detectable only in faeces. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the CoVs detected in bats across Europe and highlights the importance of continued surveillance and monitoring of bat populations for potential emerging zoonotic CoVs.

Keywords: Alphacoronavirus; Betacoronavirus; Bats; Europe.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflicts of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) flowchart.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Bats genera that were found carrying CoVs in European countries.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Phylogenetic tree constructed for the α- and β-CoVs strains identified in the 24 studies approached in this revision. Phylogenetic analysis was based on a 406 nt partial region of the RdRp. The tree was constructed using MEGA 10 using the maximum likelihood based on the GTR + G model, and 1000 bootstraps were replicated.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Phylogenetic tree constructed for the α-CoVs strains identified in this revision. Phylogenetic analysis was based on a 406 nt partial region of the RdRp. The tree was constructed using MEGA 10 using the maximum likelihood based on the GTR + G model, and 1000 bootstraps were replicated. Samples from this study are indicated in pink with the description of GenBank accession number, host bat species, the county where it was found, and the year. In green are the γ-CoV, an outgroup for the analysis.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Phylogenetic tree constructed for the β-CoVs strains identified in this revision. Phylogenetic analysis was based on a 406 nt partial region of the RdRp. The tree was constructed using MEGA 10 using the maximum likelihood based on the GTR + G + I model, and 1000 bootstraps were replicated. Samples from this study are indicated in pink with the description of GenBank accession number, host bat species, the county where it was found, and the year. In green is a Turkey-CoV strain, a γ-CoV, an outgroup for the analysis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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