Université de La Réunion, UMR Processus Infectieux en Milieu Insulaire Tropical (PIMIT), INSERM 1187, CNRS 9192, IRD 249, 2 rue Maxime Rivière (GIP CYROI), 97490 Sainte-Clotilde, La Réunion, France.
School of Life Sciences, Biological Sciences Building, University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Ring Road, Westville Campus, Kwa-Zulu Natal, 3630, South Africa.
Virol J. 2018 Jun 20;15(1):104. doi: 10.1186/s12985-018-1011-x.
Astroviruses (AstVs) are responsible for infection of a large diversity of mammalian and avian species, including bats, aquatic birds, livestock and humans. We investigated AstVs circulation in bats in Mozambique and Mayotte, a small island in the Comoros Archipelago located between east Africa and Madagascar. Biological material was collected from 338 bats and tested for the presence of the AstV RNA-dependent RNA-polymerase gene with a pan-AstV semi-nested polymerase chain reaction assay. None of the 79 samples obtained from Mayotte bats (Pteropus seychellensis comorensis and Chaerephon pusillus) tested positive; however, 20.1% of bats sampled in Mozambique shed AstVs at the time of sampling and significant interspecific variation in the proportion of positive bats was detected. Many AstVs sequences obtained from a given bat species clustered in different phylogenetic lineages, while others seem to reflect some level of host-virus association, but also with AstVs previously reported from Malagasy bats. Our findings support active circulation of a large diversity of AstVs in bats in the western Indian Ocean islands, including the southeastern African coast, and highlight the need for more detailed assessment of its risk of zoonotic transmission to human populations.
星状病毒（AstVs）可感染包括蝙蝠、水禽、家畜和人类在内的多种哺乳动物和禽类。我们在莫桑比克和科摩罗群岛的马约特岛（位于东非和马达加斯加之间的小岛屿）调查了蝙蝠中的星状病毒循环。我们从 338 只蝙蝠身上采集了生物材料，并使用泛星状病毒半巢式聚合酶链反应检测法检测星状病毒 RNA 依赖性 RNA 聚合酶基因的存在。在来自马约特岛的蝙蝠（Pteropus seychellensis comorensis 和 Chaerephon pusillus）的 79 个样本中，没有一个样本呈阳性；然而，在莫桑比克采样时，20.1%的蝙蝠携带星状病毒，并且检测到阳性蝙蝠的种间比例存在显著差异。从给定蝙蝠种获得的许多星状病毒序列聚类在不同的进化枝中，而其他序列似乎反映了一定程度的宿主-病毒关联，但也与来自马达加斯加蝙蝠的星状病毒有关。我们的研究结果支持在印度洋西部岛屿的蝙蝠中存在大量不同的星状病毒循环，包括东南非海岸，并强调需要更详细地评估其对人类的人畜共患病传播风险。
