Two Novel Parvoviruses in Frugivorous New and Old World Bats

Canuti, Marta; Eis-Huebinger, Anna Maria; Deijs, Martin; de Vries, Michel; Drexler, Jan Felix; Oppong, Samuel K.; Müller, Marcel A.; Klose, Stefan M.; Wellinghausen, Nele; Cottontail, Veronika M.; Kalko, Elisabeth K. V.; Drosten, Christian; van der Hoek, Lia

The two parvoviruses reported here were identified from blood samples, indicating that these viruses cause active infections in bats. Beyond the 2 parvoviruses, no other viral sequences were identified during our study, suggesting that both viruses may replicate autonomously and may not need other viruses to reach high titers (up to 1.47E+10 copies/ml). Our data also indicate that the viruses can spread easily throughout the body and that they circulate within the bat population with frequencies up to 8%. Furthermore, the presence of bat parvovirus in the intestinal tissue suggests that those viruses might be present in feces, as already reported for adeno-associated bat parvoviruses. Taken together, the data from the present and previous studies [12, 16] demonstrate that a variety of parvoviruses is currently associated with bats with different geographic origin (Old and New World), different phylogenies (Pteropodidae, Phyllostomidae, Vespertilionidae, Rhinolophidae, Hipposideridae, Miniopteridae and Molossidae), different ecologies (fruit eaters and insectivores) as well as climatic ranges (temperate to tropical regions). It is highly plausible that more parvoviruses exsist in bats and identification requires extensive studies covering a large variety of bat species.