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© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Simple Summary

The role of wildlife animals, such as macaques and bats, in the spreading and maintenance of deadly zoonotic pathogens in nature are documented in several studies. The present study substantially highlights the first evidence of West Nile Virus (WNV) infection, a mosquito borne virus in the Malaysian macaques and bats. Of the 81 macaques sampled, 24 of the long-tailed macaques were seropositive to WNV, indicating that they were exposed to the virus in the past. The long-tailed macaques were found in the mangrove forests located in the Central, Southern, and West Peninsular Malaysia. Meanwhile, five out of 41 bats (Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bats, Lesser Sheath-tailed Bats, and Thai Horseshoe Bats) that were found in the caves from Northern Peninsular Malaysia showed susceptibility to WNV. Therefore, a constant bio surveillance of WNV in the wildlife in Malaysia is a proactive attempt. This study was aligned with the Malaysian government’s mission under the Malaysia Strategy for Emerging Diseases and Public Health Emergencies (MYSED) II (2017–2021) and the Ministry of Health priorities in order to enhance the regional capability to rapidly and accurately survey, detect, diagnose, and report outbreaks of pathogens and diseases of security concern.

Abstract

The role of wildlife such as wild birds, macaques, and bats in the spreading and maintenance of deadly zoonotic pathogens in nature have been well documented in many parts of the world. One such pathogen is the mosquitoes borne virus, namely the West Nile Virus (WNV). Previous research has shown that 1:7 and 1:6 Malaysian wild birds are WNV antibody and RNA positive, respectively, and bats in North America may not be susceptible to the WNV infection. This study was conducted to determine the status of WNV in Malaysian macaques and bats found in mangrove forests and caves, respectively. Archive sera and oropharyngeal swabs from long-tailed macaques were subjected to the antibody detection using WNV competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (c-ELISA) and WNV RNA using RT-PCR, respectively, while the archive oropharyngeal and rectal swabs from bats were subjected to RT-PCR without serological analysis due to the unavailability of serum samples. The analysis revealed a WNV seropositivity of 29.63% (24/81) and none of the macaques were positive for WNV RNA. Meanwhile, 12.2% (5/41) of the bats from Pteropodidae, Emballonuridae, and Rhinolophidae families tested positive for WNV RNA. Here, we show a high WNV antibody prevalence in macaques and a moderate WNV RNA in various Malaysian bat species, suggesting that WNV circulates through Malaysian wild animals and Malaysian bat species may be susceptible to the WNV infection.

Details

Title
Exposure to Zoonotic West Nile Virus in Long-Tailed Macaques and Bats in Peninsular Malaysia
Author
Ain-Najwa, Mohd Yuseri 1 ; Abd Rahaman Yasmin 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Siti Suri Arshad 3 ; Abdul Rahman Omar 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Jalila Abu 5 ; Kumar, Kiven 6 ; Hussni Omar Mohammed 7 ; Jafar Ali Natasha 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Mohammed, Mohammed Nma 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Bande, Faruku 8   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Mohd-Lutfi, Abdullah 9 ; Rovie-Ryan, Jeffrine J 9   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Department of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosis, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia; [email protected] (M.Y.A.-N.); [email protected] (J.A.N.); [email protected] (M.N.M.) 
 Department of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosis, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia; [email protected] (M.Y.A.-N.); [email protected] (J.A.N.); [email protected] (M.N.M.); Laboratory of Vaccines and Biomolecules, Institute of Bioscience, UPM Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia; [email protected] 
 Department of Veterinary Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia; [email protected] 
 Laboratory of Vaccines and Biomolecules, Institute of Bioscience, UPM Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia; [email protected]; Department of Veterinary Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia; [email protected] 
 Department of Veterinary Clinical Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia; [email protected] 
 Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia; [email protected] 
 Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA; [email protected] 
 Department of Veterinary Services, Ministry of Animal Health and Fisheries Development, Sokoto 840, Sokoto State, Nigeria; [email protected] 
 Department of Conservation of Biodiversity of Wildlife and National Park Malaysia, Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia; [email protected] (M.-L.A.); [email protected] (J.J.R.-R.) 
First page
2367
Publication year
2020
Publication date
2020
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
20762615
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2469914756
Copyright
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.