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. 2016 Dec;63(8):608-615.
doi: 10.1111/zph.12271. Epub 2016 May 13.

Detection of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Related Coronavirus and Alphacoronavirus in the Bat Population of Taiwan

Y-N Chen  1 , V N Phuong  1 , H C Chen  2 , C-H Chou  3 , H-C Cheng  3 , C-H Wu  4
Affiliations

Detection of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Related Coronavirus and Alphacoronavirus in the Bat Population of Taiwan

Y-N Chen et al. Zoonoses Public Health. 2016 Dec.

Abstract

Bats have been demonstrated to be natural reservoirs of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) CoV. Faecal samples from 248 individuals of 20 bat species were tested for partial RNA-dependent RNA polymerase gene of CoV and 57 faecal samples from eight bat species were tested positive. The highest detection rate of 44% for Scotophilus kuhlii, followed by 30% for Rhinolophus monoceros. Significantly higher detection rates of coronaviral RNA were found in female bats and Scotophilus kuhlii roosting in palm trees. Phylogenetic analysis classified the positive samples into SARS-related (SARSr) CoV, Scotophilus bat CoV 512 close to those from China and Philippines, and Miniopterus bat CoV 1A-related lineages. Coronaviral RNA was also detected in bat guano from Scotophilus kuhlii and Myotis formosus flavus on the ground and had potential risk for human exposure. Diverse bat CoV with zoonotic potential could be introduced by migratory bats and maintained in the endemic bat population in Taiwan.

Keywords: Chiroptera; Taiwan; coronavirus; reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction; severe acute respiratory syndrome virus; zoonosis.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Map of East Asia (left) with enlarged view of Taiwan Island (right). The dots labeled with Arabic number indicated sampling locations 1 to 10. Name/habitat type/geographic coordinate: location 1/Guihou/woods/25°11′24″N/121°40′41″E, location 2/Wulai/woods/24°51′50″N/121°33′05″E, location 3/Dong'ao/woods/24°31′55″N/121°49′53″E, location 4/Nan'ao/woods/24°31′9″N/121°46′2″E, location 5/Miaoli/woods/24°25′35″N/121°00′45″E, location 6/Jhutang/palm trees in an elementary school/23°50′51″N/120°23′12″E, location 7/Dili/irrigation culvert/23°48′24″N/120°54′51″E, location 8/Shuilin/Ficus trees in an elementary school/23°37′14″N/120°15′40″E, location 9/Beigang/palm trees in a sugar factory/23°34′05″N/120°17′51″E, and location 10/Dongshan/irrigation culvert/23°19′04″N/120°25′27″E.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Phylogenetic tree of three bat coronavirus lineages detected in Taiwan. The consensus 375 nucleotide sequences of partial RNA‐dependent RNA polymerase gene from 24 bat CoV samples in Taiwan and selected sequences from Genbank were aligned using the Clustal W method and the tree was constructed using the neighbour‐joining model with a 1000 bootstrap test and pairwise deletion option in the maximum likelihood method by mega6 program. Nucleotide identities were indicated next to the bracket.
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