Find in Library

Diverse paramyxoviruses have coevolved with their bat hosts, including fruit bats such as flying foxes (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae). Several of these viruses are zoonotic, but the diversity and distribution of <i>Paramyxoviridae</i> are poorly understood. We screened pooled feces samples from three <i>Pteropus vampyrus</i> colonies and assayed tissues, rectal swabs, and oral swabs from 95 individuals of 23 pteropodid species sampled at 17 sites across the Indonesian archipelago with a conventional paramyxovirus PCR; all tested negative. Samples from 43 individuals were screened with next generation sequencing (NGS), and a single <i>Pteropus vampyrus</i> collected near Flores had Tioman virus sequencing reads. Tioman virus is a bat-borne virus in the genus <i>Pararubulavirus</i> with prior evidence of spillover to humans. This work expands the known range of Tioman virus, and it is likely that this isolated colony likely has sustained intergenerational transmission over a long period.