Wacharapluesadee Supaporn, Samseeneam Panumas, Phermpool Mana, Kaewpom Thongchai, Rodpan Apaporn, Maneeorn Pattarapol, Srongmongkol Phimchanok, Kanchanasaka Budsabong, Hemachudha Thiravat
World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Research and Training on Viral Zoonoses, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Bangkok, Thailand.
Virol J. 2016 Mar 25;13:53. doi: 10.1186/s12985-016-0510-x.
Nipah virus (NiV) first emerged in Malaysia in 1998, with two bat species (Pteropus hypomelanus and P. vampyrus) as the putative natural reservoirs. In 2002, NiV IgG antibodies were detected in these species from Thailand, but viral RNA could not be detected for strain characterization. Two strains of NiV (Malaysia and Bangladesh) have been found in P. lylei in central Thailand, although Bangladesh strain, the causative strain for the outbreak in Bangladesh since 2001, was dominant. To understand the diversity of NiV in Thailand, this study identified NiV strain, using molecular characterizations, from P. hypomelanus in southern Thailand.
Pooled bat urine specimens were collected from plastic sheet underneath bat roosts in April 2010, and then monthly from December 2010 to May 2011 at an island in southern Thailand. Five in 184 specimens were positive for NiV, using duplex nested RT-PCR assay on partial nucleocapsid fragment (357 bp). Whole sequences of nucleocapsid gene from four bats were characterized. All 5 partial fragments and 4 whole nucleocapsid genes formed a monophyletic with NiV-MY.
Our study showed that P. hypomelanus in southern Thailand and from Malaysia, a bordering country, harbored similar NiV. This finding indicates that NiV is not limited to central Thailand or P. lylei species, and it may be a source of inter-species transmission. This indicates a higher potential for a widespread NiV outbreak in Thailand. NiV surveillance in Pteropus bats, the major natural reservoirs, should be conducted continuously in countries or regions with high susceptibility to outbreaks.
尼帕病毒（NiV）于1998年首次在马来西亚出现，两种蝙蝠（黑腹狐蝠和马来大狐蝠）被认为是其天然宿主。2002年，在泰国的这些蝙蝠物种中检测到了NiV IgG抗体，但未能检测到病毒RNA以进行毒株鉴定。在泰国中部的利氏狐蝠中发现了两种NiV毒株（马来西亚株和孟加拉国株），尽管自2001年以来在孟加拉国引发疫情的孟加拉国株占主导地位。为了解泰国NiV的多样性，本研究通过分子特征鉴定了泰国南部黑腹狐蝠中的NiV毒株。
2010年4月从蝙蝠栖息地下方的塑料布上收集了混合蝙蝠尿液样本，随后于2010年12月至2011年5月在泰国南部的一个岛屿上每月收集一次。使用针对部分核衣壳片段（357 bp）的双重巢式RT-PCR检测法，184份样本中有5份NiV呈阳性。对4只蝙蝠的核衣壳基因全序列进行了特征分析。所有5个部分片段和4个完整的核衣壳基因与NiV-MY形成一个单系群。
我们的研究表明，泰国南部的黑腹狐蝠与邻国马来西亚的黑腹狐蝠携带相似的NiV。这一发现表明NiV不限于泰国中部或利氏狐蝠物种，它可能是种间传播的一个来源。这表明泰国发生广泛NiV疫情的可能性更高。在对疫情高度易感的国家或地区，应持续对主要天然宿主狐蝠进行NiV监测。
