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Evidence of exposure to henipaviruses in domestic pigs in Uganda

Hendra virus (HeV) and Nipah virus (NiV), belonging to the genus Henipavirus, are among the most pathogenic of viruses in humans. Old World fruit bats (family Pteropodidae) are the natural reservoir hosts. Molecular and serological studies found evidence of henipavirus infection in fruit bats from s...

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Autores principales: Atherstone, Christine, Diederich, Sandra, Weingartl, Hana M., Fischer, Kerstin, Balkema‐Buschmann, Anne, Grace, Delia, Alonso, Silvia, Dhand, Navneet K., Ward, Michael P., Mor, Siobhan M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6849855/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30576076
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/tbed.13105
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author Atherstone, Christine
Diederich, Sandra
Weingartl, Hana M.
Fischer, Kerstin
Balkema‐Buschmann, Anne
Grace, Delia
Alonso, Silvia
Dhand, Navneet K.
Ward, Michael P.
Mor, Siobhan M.
author_facet Atherstone, Christine
Diederich, Sandra
Weingartl, Hana M.
Fischer, Kerstin
Balkema‐Buschmann, Anne
Grace, Delia
Alonso, Silvia
Dhand, Navneet K.
Ward, Michael P.
Mor, Siobhan M.
author_sort Atherstone, Christine
collection PubMed
description Hendra virus (HeV) and Nipah virus (NiV), belonging to the genus Henipavirus, are among the most pathogenic of viruses in humans. Old World fruit bats (family Pteropodidae) are the natural reservoir hosts. Molecular and serological studies found evidence of henipavirus infection in fruit bats from several African countries. However, little is known about the potential for spillover into domestic animals in East Africa, particularly pigs, which served as amplifying hosts during the first outbreak of NiV in Malaysia and Singapore. We collected sera from 661 pigs presented for slaughter in Uganda between December 2015 and October 2016. Using HeV G and NiV G indirect ELISAs, 14 pigs (2%) were seroreactive in at least one ELISA. Seroprevalence increased to 5.4% in October 2016, when pigs were 9.5 times more likely to be seroreactive than pigs sampled in December 2015 (p = 0.04). Eight of the 14 ELISA‐positive samples reacted with HeV N antigen in Western blot. None of the sera neutralized HeV or NiV in plaque reduction neutralization tests. Although we did not detect neutralizing antibodies, our results suggest that pigs in Uganda are exposed to henipaviruses or henipa‐like viruses. Pigs in this study were sourced from many farms throughout Uganda, suggesting multiple (albeit rare) introductions of henipaviruses into the pig population. We postulate that given the widespread distribution of Old World fruit bats in Africa, spillover of henipaviruses from fruit bats to pigs in Uganda could result in exposure of pigs at multiple locations. A higher risk of a spillover event at the end of the dry season might be explained by higher densities of bats and contact with pigs at this time of the year, exacerbated by nutritional stress in bat populations and their reproductive cycle. Future studies should prioritize determining the risk of spillover of henipaviruses from pigs to people, so that potential risks can be mitigated.
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spelling pubmed-68498552019-11-15 Evidence of exposure to henipaviruses in domestic pigs in Uganda Atherstone, Christine Diederich, Sandra Weingartl, Hana M. Fischer, Kerstin Balkema‐Buschmann, Anne Grace, Delia Alonso, Silvia Dhand, Navneet K. Ward, Michael P. Mor, Siobhan M. Transbound Emerg Dis Original Articles Hendra virus (HeV) and Nipah virus (NiV), belonging to the genus Henipavirus, are among the most pathogenic of viruses in humans. Old World fruit bats (family Pteropodidae) are the natural reservoir hosts. Molecular and serological studies found evidence of henipavirus infection in fruit bats from several African countries. However, little is known about the potential for spillover into domestic animals in East Africa, particularly pigs, which served as amplifying hosts during the first outbreak of NiV in Malaysia and Singapore. We collected sera from 661 pigs presented for slaughter in Uganda between December 2015 and October 2016. Using HeV G and NiV G indirect ELISAs, 14 pigs (2%) were seroreactive in at least one ELISA. Seroprevalence increased to 5.4% in October 2016, when pigs were 9.5 times more likely to be seroreactive than pigs sampled in December 2015 (p = 0.04). Eight of the 14 ELISA‐positive samples reacted with HeV N antigen in Western blot. None of the sera neutralized HeV or NiV in plaque reduction neutralization tests. Although we did not detect neutralizing antibodies, our results suggest that pigs in Uganda are exposed to henipaviruses or henipa‐like viruses. Pigs in this study were sourced from many farms throughout Uganda, suggesting multiple (albeit rare) introductions of henipaviruses into the pig population. We postulate that given the widespread distribution of Old World fruit bats in Africa, spillover of henipaviruses from fruit bats to pigs in Uganda could result in exposure of pigs at multiple locations. A higher risk of a spillover event at the end of the dry season might be explained by higher densities of bats and contact with pigs at this time of the year, exacerbated by nutritional stress in bat populations and their reproductive cycle. Future studies should prioritize determining the risk of spillover of henipaviruses from pigs to people, so that potential risks can be mitigated. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2019-01-19 2019-03 /pmc/articles/PMC6849855/ /pubmed/30576076 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/tbed.13105 Text en © 2018 The Authors. Transboundary and Emerging Diseases published by Blackwell Verlag GmbH This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Articles
Atherstone, Christine
Diederich, Sandra
Weingartl, Hana M.
Fischer, Kerstin
Balkema‐Buschmann, Anne
Grace, Delia
Alonso, Silvia
Dhand, Navneet K.
Ward, Michael P.
Mor, Siobhan M.
Evidence of exposure to henipaviruses in domestic pigs in Uganda
title Evidence of exposure to henipaviruses in domestic pigs in Uganda
title_full Evidence of exposure to henipaviruses in domestic pigs in Uganda
title_fullStr Evidence of exposure to henipaviruses in domestic pigs in Uganda
title_full_unstemmed Evidence of exposure to henipaviruses in domestic pigs in Uganda
title_short Evidence of exposure to henipaviruses in domestic pigs in Uganda
title_sort evidence of exposure to henipaviruses in domestic pigs in uganda
topic Original Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6849855/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30576076
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/tbed.13105
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