Habeebur-Rahman Sultana Parvin, Khan Faisal Ali Anwarali, Mohd-Azlan Jayasilan, Gumal Melvin, Tan Cheng Siang
Centre for Tropical and Emerging Diseases, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia.
Faculty of Resource Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia.
J Med Virol. 2025 May;97(5):e70389. doi: 10.1002/jmv.70389.
Bats are natural reservoirs for a diverse range of coronaviruses (CoVs), including those closely related to SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, making them crucial for understanding CoV genetics and zoonotic transmission. The exceptional bat diversity in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, provides an ideal setting to investigate CoV diversity and potential transmission pathways. This study examined CoV prevalence and diversity in 346 fecal samples from bats across 29 species in northern and western Sarawak, employing two pan-CoV PCR assays: Quan (Q-assay) and Watanabe (W-assay). The Q-assay and W-assay estimated the CoV prevalence to be 14.45% and 12.72%, respectively. The overall true prevalence based on both assays was 22.83%. There was a fair agreement between both assays (κ = 0.286) with comparable performance in detecting the virus (McNemar p > 0.05). Phylogenetic analyses identified six distinct clades within alphacoronaviruses (α-CoVs) and betacoronaviruses (β-CoVs), comprising two unclassified Borneo-Alpha CoVs and four from the subgenera Minunacovirus, Rhinacovirus, Nobecovirus, and Sarbecovirus. This study represents the first report of Sarawak bat CoVs derived from rectal and fecal samples, addressing a significant knowledge gap. The findings highlight the need for complementary molecular assays to enhance CoV surveillance and deepen understanding of viral ecology in regions of high biodiversity, with implications for zoonotic disease prevention.
蝙蝠是多种冠状病毒（CoV）的天然宿主，包括那些与严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒（SARS-CoV）和严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）密切相关的病毒，这使得它们对于理解冠状病毒遗传学和人畜共患病传播至关重要。马来西亚婆罗洲沙捞越地区独特的蝙蝠多样性，为研究冠状病毒多样性和潜在传播途径提供了理想环境。本研究采用两种泛冠状病毒聚合酶链反应（PCR）检测方法：全法（Q法）和渡边法（W法），对沙捞越北部和西部29种蝙蝠的346份粪便样本中的冠状病毒流行情况和多样性进行了检测。Q法和W法估计的冠状病毒流行率分别为14.45%和12.72%。基于两种检测方法的总体真实流行率为22.83%。两种检测方法之间有较好的一致性（κ=0.286），在检测病毒方面具有可比的性能（麦克内马尔检验p>0.05）。系统发育分析在甲型冠状病毒（α-CoVs）和乙型冠状病毒（β-CoVs）中鉴定出六个不同的进化枝，包括两种未分类的婆罗洲甲型冠状病毒以及来自小刺突病毒亚属、鼻病毒属、诺贝病毒属和严重急性呼吸综合征相关冠状病毒亚属的四种病毒。本研究是关于沙捞越蝙蝠源自直肠和粪便样本的冠状病毒的首次报告，填补了一项重要的知识空白。研究结果强调需要采用互补的分子检测方法来加强冠状病毒监测，并加深对高生物多样性地区病毒生态学的理解，这对人畜共患病预防具有重要意义。
