A-Z Index × Submit A-Z Index × Submit A-Z Index Search Dropdown × Submit Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate Emerging Infectious Disease journal ISSN: 1080-6059 Disclaimer: Early release articles are not considered as final versions. Any changes will be reflected in the online version in the month the article is officially released.
Pteropine orthoreovirus (PRV) is an emerging batborne virus with zoonotic potential increasingly linked to human respiratory illness. During 2020–2021, we sampled 182 fruit bats from animal markets and suppliers across Java, Indonesia, and identified species morphologically. We cultured rectal swab samples on Vero cells and sequenced samples showing cytopathic effects by using next-generation technology. We recovered 2 isolates from Rousettus amplexicaudatus bats sold for human consumption in Cianjur, West Java. Comparative analysis of 9 of 10 genomic segments showed the isolates were nearly identical ( > 99%–100%), except for the S2 segment (88.9%). Phylogenetic analysis indicated close clustering with Nelson Bay, Melaka, Kampar, Pulau, and Garut-69 bat-associated PRVs. We found PRV in R. amplexicaudatus bats in Indonesia, which highlights the zoonotic risk of wildlife trade. Continued surveillance of PRVs at the human–bat interface will be needed to assess the emergence of novel viruses and mitigate potential zoonotic threats.
Fruit bats, particularly large flying foxes ( Pteropus vampyrus ), are well documented as natural reservoirs of a wide range of viruses that have zoonotic potential, including herpesviruses, parvoviruses, polyomaviruses, paramyxoviruses, coronaviruses, and orthoreoviruses ( 1 , 2 ). Orthoreoviruses, specifically those classified as Pteropine orthoreovirus (PRV), have increasingly been associated with respiratory diseases in humans ( 3 – 5 ).
The zoonotic potential of batborne orthoreoviruses was first recognized in 2006, when a febrile illness along with respiratory symptoms were reported in a patient who had known exposure to a flying fox. The causative agent, later named Melaka virus, marked the first identification of a PRV responsible for human respiratory disease ( 6 ). After 2006, several genetically and antigenically related virus strains, such as Kampar, Sikamat, HK23629/07, and Miyazaki-Bali/2007, were isolated from patients who had similar respiratory tract infections ( 7 – 9 ). Those findings strongly support a role for PRVs as emerging zoonotic pathogens that have a capacity for interspecies transmission.
In 2010, a novel PRV strain, designated as Indonesia/2010, was isolated from a P. vampyrus bat imported from Indonesia to Italy ( 10 ). Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) revealed close genetic similarity to Melaka virus, reinforcing the hypothesis that Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia, serves as a major ecologic reservoir for orthoreoviruses that have zoonotic potential. That discovery was followed by the identification of additional strains from Indonesia, such as Garut-69 ( 11 ), further highlighting the genetic diversity and ongoing circulation of PRVs in fruit bat populations.
A study in 2022 reported the isolation and characterization of a novel PRV strain from fruit bats in the Paguyaman region of Sulawesi, Indonesia; that strain was designated as Paguyaman orthoreovirus ( 12 ). In vitro and in vivo characterization of that virus revealed evidence of potential reassortment events with previously described Nelson Bay virus–related strains ( 8 ). Intranasal in…