Martínez Caty, Echeverri Daniel, Calderón Alfonso, Hurtado Eliana, Gastelbondo Bertha, López Yésica, Martínez Jairo, López Yeimy, Botero Yesica, Guzmán Camilo, Galeano Ketty, Bertel Valeria, Herrera Yonairo, Arrieta Germán, Araujo Joao Pessoa, Mattar Salim
Universidad de Córdoba, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas del Trópico, Montería, Colombia.
São Pablo State University (IBB-UNESP), Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Institute of Biosciences, Botucatu, SP, Brazil.
Curr Res Parasitol Vector Borne Dis. 2025 Apr 29;7:100261. doi: 10.1016/j.crpvbd.2025.100261. eCollection 2025.
The evolutionary origin of coronaviruses is related to bats (order Chiroptera), and their association with pathologies in animals and humans is expected. Anthropic threats reduce bat diversity and expose humans to extraordinary transmission and spread of associated viruses, putting health and food security at risk owing to the multiple ecological roles that bats play. This study aimed to determine the presence of coronaviruses in bats in the Department of Córdoba, Colombia. Between 2022 and 2023, 11 municipalities were selected using non-probabilistic sampling methods. A total of 262 bats belonging to 16 species of five families were captured and identified. Serological tests were performed to detect SARS-CoV-2, and nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to detect the coronavirus RdRp gene. RdRp-positive samples were sequenced using Sanger sequencing. Five specimens (2.7%) had antibodies against the coronavirus N protein, and the RdRp gene was detected in 55 specimens (21.0%), all belonging to the family Phyllostomidae. Phylogenetic analysis of the RdRp gene revealed that the newly generated sequences represented alphacoronaviruses. Bats tested in ecoregions with greater anthropogenic intervention were shown to be carriers of coronaviruses, unlike bats from conserved ecoregions. Coronavirus surveillance in bats has revealed previous infections through serology and circulating infections in natural populations of different ecoregions of the Department of Córdoba, where inter-species jumps could be generated by contact between bats and domestic/wild animals, or humans.
冠状病毒的进化起源与蝙蝠（翼手目）有关，预计它们会与动物和人类的病理学相关联。人类活动造成的威胁减少了蝙蝠的多样性，并使人类面临相关病毒的异常传播和扩散，由于蝙蝠所发挥的多种生态作用，这使健康和粮食安全面临风险。本研究旨在确定哥伦比亚科尔多瓦省蝙蝠中冠状病毒的存在情况。在2022年至2023年期间，使用非概率抽样方法选择了11个市。共捕获并鉴定了属于5个科16个物种的262只蝙蝠。进行了血清学检测以检测严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2），并进行了巢式聚合酶链反应（PCR）以检测冠状病毒的RNA依赖的RNA聚合酶（RdRp）基因。对RdRp阳性样本进行桑格测序。5个样本（2.7%）具有针对冠状病毒核蛋白（N蛋白）的抗体，在55个样本（21.0%）中检测到了RdRp基因，所有这些样本都属于叶口蝠科。对RdRp基因的系统发育分析表明，新生成的序列代表α冠状病毒。与来自生态保护区的蝙蝠不同，在人为干预较大的生态区域中检测的蝙蝠被证明是冠状病毒的携带者。对蝙蝠的冠状病毒监测揭示了通过血清学检测出的既往感染以及科尔多瓦省不同生态区域自然种群中的循环感染，在这些地方，蝙蝠与家养/野生动物或人类之间的接触可能导致种间传播。
