Surveillance of Nipah virus in Pteropus medius of Kerala state, India, 2023

oleh: R. Balasubramanian, Sreelekshmy Mohandas, Ullas P. Thankappan, Anita Shete, Dilip Patil, Kannan Sabarinath, Basavaraj Mathapati, Rima Sahay, Deepak Patil, Pragya D. Yadav

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: Frontiers Media S.A. 2024-03-01

Deskripsi

IntroductionSince 2018, the Indian state of Kerala has reported four Nipah virus (NiV) disease outbreaks, raising concerns about NiV spillover from bats to the human population. Considering this, a cross-sectional study was undertaken in the Pteropus medius bat population around the Nipah virus-affected regions of Kozhikode, Kerala, India, during February, July, and September 2023.MethodsThroat swabs, rectal swabs, and organ samples were collected from bats to test for NiV using the real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), while serum samples were screened for anti-Nipah IgG antibodies through ELISA.ResultsAn overall seroprevalence of 20.9% was observed in 272 P. medius bats tested. The throat and rectal swab samples of 321 bats were negative for NiV RNA. However, 4 of 44 P. medius bats tested positive for NiV in their liver/spleen samples. The partial N gene retrieved showed more than 99% similarity with the earlier reported NiV genome from Kerala state, India.DiscussionThe findings of the study caution that there is a spillover risk in the region and necessary precautions should be taken.