Vidgen M E, Edson D W, van den Hurk A F, Field H E, Smith C S
Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Queensland Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Biosecurity Queensland, Brisbane, Qld, Australia.
School of Science and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, Qld, Australia.
Zoonoses Public Health. 2017 May;64(3):228-231. doi: 10.1111/zph.12303. Epub 2016 Oct 22.
Hendra virus (HeV) causes potentially fatal respiratory and/or neurological disease in both horses and humans. Although Australian flying-foxes of the genus Pteropus have been identified as reservoir hosts, the precise mechanism of HeV transmission has yet to be elucidated. To date, there has been limited investigation into the role of haematophagous insects as vectors of HeV. This mode of transmission is particularly relevant because Australian flying-foxes host the bat-specific blood-feeding ectoparasites of the genus Cyclopodia (Diptera: Nycteribiidae), also known as bat flies. Using molecular detection methods, we screened for HeV RNA in 183 bat flies collected from flying-foxes inhabiting a roost in Boonah, Queensland, Australia. It was subsequently demonstrated that during the study period, Pteropus alecto in this roost had a HeV RNA prevalence between 2 and 15% (95% CI [1, 6] to [8, 26], respectively). We found no evidence of HeV in any bat flies tested, including 10 bat flies collected from P. alecto in which we detected HeV RNA. Our negative findings are consistent with previous findings and provide additional evidence that bat flies do not play a primary role in HeV transmission.
亨德拉病毒（HeV）可在马和人类中引发具有潜在致命性的呼吸道和/或神经系统疾病。尽管已确定澳大利亚的狐蝠属为该病毒的自然宿主，但HeV的精确传播机制仍有待阐明。迄今为止，关于吸血昆虫作为HeV传播媒介的作用的研究有限。这种传播方式尤为重要，因为澳大利亚狐蝠携带环足蝠属（双翅目：蝠蝇科）的蝙蝠特异性吸血体外寄生虫，也被称为蝠蝇。我们采用分子检测方法，对从澳大利亚昆士兰州布纳栖息的狐蝠身上采集的183只蝠蝇进行了HeV RNA筛查。随后证明，在研究期间，该栖息地的黑狐蝠的HeV RNA流行率在2%至15%之间（95%置信区间分别为[1, 6]至[8, 26]）。在所有检测的蝠蝇中，我们未发现HeV存在的证据，包括从检测到HeV RNA的黑狐蝠身上采集的10只蝠蝇。我们的阴性结果与之前的研究结果一致，并提供了额外证据，证明蝠蝇在HeV传播中不发挥主要作用。
