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Volume 19, Number 3—March 2013
Dispatch

Human Betacoronavirus 2c EMC/2012–related Viruses in Bats, Ghana and Europe

Augustina Annan1, Heather J. Baldwin1, Victor Max Corman1, Stefan M. Klose, Michael Owusu, Evans Ewald Nkrumah, Ebenezer Kofi Badu, Priscilla Anti, Olivia Agbenyega, Benjamin Meyer, Samuel Oppong, Yaw Adu Sarkodie, Elisabeth K.V. Kalko2, Peter H.C. Lina, Elena V. Godlevska, Chantal Reusken, Antje Seebens, Florian Gloza-Rausch, Peter Vallo, Marco Tschapka, Christian Drosten, and Jan Felix DrexlerComments to Author 
Author affiliations: Author affiliations: Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine, Kumasi, Ghana (A. Annan, M. Owusu); Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (H.J. Baldwin); University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany (H.J. Baldwin, S.M. Klose, E.K.V. Kalko, P. Vallo, M. Tschapka); University of Bonn Medical Centre, Bonn, Germany (V.M. Corman, B. Meyer, F. Gloza-Rausch, C. Drosten, J.F. Drexler); Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi (E.E. Nkrumah, E.K. Badu, P. Anti, O. Agbenyega, S. Oppong, Y.A. Sarkodie); Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama (E.K.V. Kalko, M. Tschapka); Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, the Netherlands (P.H.C. Lina); Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology, Kiev, Ukraine (E.V. Godlevska); Netherlands Center for Infectious Disease Control, Bilthoven, the Netherlands (C. Reusken); Noctalis, Centre for Bat Protection and Information, Bad Segeberg, Germany (A. Seebens, F. Gloza-Rausch); Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i., Brno, Czech Republic (P. Vallo)

Main Article

Table 1

Overview of bats tested for 2c betacoronaviruses, Ghana and Europe

Area, bat species No. bats tested (no. [%] positive)* Age, juvenile/adult† Sex, F/M‡ Location§ (no. tested/no. positive)
Ghana
Coleura afra 108 (0) 2/105 46/59 a, b, e
Hipposideros abae 604 (0) 55/548 207/341 a, b, d, f
H. cf. gigas 28 (0) 7/19 8/11 a, b, d
H. fuliginosus 1 (0) 1/0 Unknown c
H. jonesi 31 (0) 6/25 1/24 c, d
H. cf. ruber 3,763 (0) 674/3,078 1,109/1,969 a, b, c, d, f, g
Nycteris cf. gambiensis 185 (46 [24.9]) 22/161¶ 79/82 a# (5/2), b# (65/15), d# (104/29), f (1/0)
Rhinolophus alcyone 4 (0) 2/2 1/1 c
R. landeri 13 (0) 3/10 2/8 b, d, f
Taphozous perforatus 21 (0) 3/18 0/18 e
Total
 4,758 (46 [1.0])
Europe
Pipistrellus kuhlii 7 (0) Unknown 3/3 l
P. nathusii 82 (30 [36.6]) 15/65 38/43 j (2/0), k# (74/29), l# (6/1)
P. pipistrellus 42 (1 [2.4]) 17/25 19/21 i (29/0), k# (7/1), h (6/0)
P. pygmaeus 141 (9 [6.4]) 11/127 83/55 j (44/0), k# (91/9), l (6/0)
Total 272 (40 [14.7])

*The real-time reverse transcription PCR (Ghana) used oligonucleotides 2c-rtF, 5′-GCACTGTTGCTGGTGTCTCTATTCT-3′, 2crtR, 5′-GCCTCTAGTGGCAGCCATACTT-3′ and 2c-rtP, JOE-TGACAAATCGCCAATACCATCAAAAGATGC-BHQ1 and the Pan2c-heminested assay (Europe) used oligonucleotides Pan2cRdRP-R, 5′-GCATWGCNCWGTCACACTTAGG-3′; Pan2cRdRP-Rnest, 5′-CACTTAGGRTARTCCCAWCCCA-3′; and Pan2cRdRp-FWD, 5′-TGCTATWAGTGCTAAGAATAGRGC-3′.
†Excludes bats (all coronavirus-negative) that were missing data for age.
‡ Excludes bats that were missing data for sex.
§a, Bouyem; b, Forikrom; c, Bobiri; d, Kwamang; e, Shai Hills; f, Akpafu Todzi, g, Likpe Todome; h, Province Gelderland; i, Eifel area; j, Holstein area; k,Tulcea county; l, Kiev region; GPS coordinates are shown in Figure 1.
¶For 2 animals, no data on age were available.
#Locations in which coronavirus 2c–positive bats were found.

Main Article

1These authors contributed equally to this article.

2Deceased.

Page created: March 12, 2013
Page updated: March 12, 2013
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