Centre for Viral Zoonoses, Department of Medical Virology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa.
EcoHealth Alliance, New York, USA.
Sci Rep. 2023 Sep 22;13(1):15829. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-42938-w.
Novel coronavirus species of public health and veterinary importance have emerged in the first two decades of the twenty-first century, with bats identified as natural hosts for progenitors of many coronaviruses. Targeted wildlife surveillance is needed to identify the factors involved in viral perpetuation within natural host populations, and drivers of interspecies transmission. We monitored a natural colony of Egyptian rousette bats at monthly intervals across two years to identify circulating coronaviruses, and to investigate shedding dynamics and viral maintenance within the colony. Three distinct lineages were detected, with different seasonal temporal excretion dynamics. For two lineages, the highest periods of coronavirus shedding were at the start of the year, when large numbers of bats were found in the colony. Highest peaks for a third lineage were observed towards the middle of the year. Among individual bat-level factors (age, sex, reproductive status, and forearm mass index), only reproductive status showed significant effects on excretion probability, with reproductive adults having lower rates of detection, though factors were highly interdependent. Analysis of recaptured bats suggests that viral clearance may occur within one month. These findings may be implemented in the development of risk reduction strategies for potential zoonotic coronavirus transmission.
在 21 世纪的头二十年里，出现了具有公共卫生和兽医重要性的新型冠状病毒，蝙蝠被确定为许多冠状病毒前体的自然宿主。需要进行有针对性的野生动物监测，以确定在自然宿主种群中病毒持续存在的因素，以及种间传播的驱动因素。我们在两年内每月监测一个埃及果蝠的自然栖息地，以确定循环冠状病毒，并调查病毒在该栖息地的传播动态和维持情况。检测到三种不同的谱系，具有不同的季节性时间排泄动态。对于两种谱系，冠状病毒排泄的最高时期是在年初，此时大量蝙蝠在栖息地中被发现。第三种谱系的最高峰值出现在年中。在个体蝙蝠水平的因素（年龄、性别、繁殖状况和前臂质量指数）中，只有繁殖状况对排泄概率有显著影响，繁殖成年蝙蝠的检测率较低，但这些因素高度相互依赖。对重新捕获的蝙蝠的分析表明，病毒清除可能在一个月内发生。这些发现可能被应用于制定潜在人畜共患冠状病毒传播的风险降低策略。
