Experimental Nipah Virus Infection in Pteropid Bats ( Pteropus poliocephalus)

• Published in: Journal of comparative pathology 2007-05, Vol.136 (4), p.266-272
• Main Authors: Middleton, D.J., Morrissy, C.J., van der Heide, B.M., Russell, G.M., Braun, M.A., Westbury, H.A., Halpin, K., Daniels, P.W.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Chiroptera - virology; Disease Reservoirs - virology; experimental infection; fruit bat; Guinea Pigs; guinea-pig; Henipavirus Infections - pathology; Henipavirus Infections - transmission; Henipavirus Infections - veterinary; Humans; Nipah virus; Nipah Virus - isolation & purification; Nipah Virus - pathogenicity; Urine - virology
• ISSN: 0021-9975; 1532-3129
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcpa.2007.03.002

Seventeen grey-headed fruit bats ( Pteropus poliocephalus) were inoculated subcutaneously with an isolate of Nipah virus derived from a fatally infected human. A control group of eight guinea-pigs was inoculated intraperitoneally with the same isolate in order to confirm virulence. Three of eight infected guinea-pigs developed clinical signs 7–9 days post-inoculation. Infected fruit bats developed a subclinical infection characterized by the transient presence of virus within selected viscera, episodic viral excretion and seroconversion. A range of histopathological changes was observed within the tissues of infected bats. Nipah virus was excreted in bat urine while neutralizing antibody was present in serum. This intermittent, low-level excretion of Nipah virus in the urine of bats may be sufficient to sustain the net reproductive value of the virus in a species where there is regular urine contamination of the fur, mutual grooming, and where urine droplets are a feature of the environment.