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Volume 24, Number 12—December 2018
Research

Survey of Ebola Viruses in Frugivorous and Insectivorous Bats in Guinea, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2015–2017

Helene M. De Nys1, Placide Mbala Kingebeni1, Alpha K. Keita1, Christelle Butel, Guillaume Thaurignac, Christian-Julian Villabona-Arenas, Thomas Lemarcis, Mare Geraerts, Nicole Vidal, Amandine Esteban, Mathieu Bourgarel, François Roger, Fabian Leendertz, Ramadan Diallo, Simon-Pierre Ndimbo-Kumugo, Justus Nsio-Mbeta, Nikki Tagg, Lamine Koivogui, Abdoulaye Toure, Eric Delaporte, Steve Ahuka-Mundeke, Jean-Jacques Muyembe Tamfum, Eitel Mpoudi-Ngole, Ahidjo Ayouba2, and Martine Peeters2Comments to Author 

Author affiliations: TransVIHMI of Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale and University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France (H.M. De Nys, P. Mbala Kingebeni, A.K. Keita, C. Butel, G. Thaurignac, C.-J. Villabona-Arenas, T. Lemarcis, M. Geraerts, N. Vidal, A. Esteban, A. Toure, E. Delaporte, A. Ayouba, M. Peeters); National Institute of Biomedical Research, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (P. Mbala Kingebeni, S.-P. Ndimbo-Kumugo, S. Ahuka-Mundeke, J.-J. Muyembe Tamfum); Cliniques Universitaires de Kinshasa, Kinshasa (P. Mbala Kingebeni, S. Ahuka-Mundeke, J.-J. Muyembe Tamfum); Centre de Recherche et de Formation en Infectiologie de Guinée, Conakry, Guinea (A.K. Keita, A. Toure); ASTRE of Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement, Institut national de la Recherche Agronomique and Univerisity of Montpellier, Montpellier (M. Bourgarel, F. Roger); Robert Koch-Institute, Berlin, Germany (F. Leendertz); Ministère de l’Elevage et des Productions Animales, Conakry (R. Diallo); Direction de Lutte contre la Maladie, Kinshasa (J. Nsio-Mbeta); Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium (N. Tagg); Université de Conakry, Conakry (L. Koivogui); Institut National de Sante Publique, Conakry (A. Toure); Institut de Recherches Médicales et d’Études des Plantes Médicinales, Yaoundé, Cameroon (E. Mpoudi-Ngole); Cameroon Institut de Recherche pout le Développement, Yaoundé (E. Mpoudi-Ngole)

Main Article

Table 5

Zaire Ebola virus antibodies in insectivorous bats from our research, Guinea, Cameroon, and the DRC, 2015–2017, and other published studies*

Family Species Country Year of study (reference) Test No. tested No. (%) positive† Total, no. positive/tested (%)†
Emballonuridae Coleura afra Cameroon 2015–2017‡ Luminex 5 0–0 (0–0) 0/14 (0)
Saccolaimus peli
 DRC
 1979–1980 (26)
 IFA
 9
 0 (0)
Hipposideridae Hipposideros sp. DRC 2015–2017‡ Luminex 157 0–0 (0–0) 0/1,395 (0)
Hipposideros sp. Cameroon 2015–2017‡ Luminex 837 0–0 (0–0)
Hipposideros sp. DRC 1979–1980 (26) IFA 69 0 (0)
Hipposideros sp. Guinea 2015–2017‡ Luminex 288 0–0 (0–0)
Hipposideros sp.
 Guinea
 2014 (11)
 ELISA
 44
 0 (0)
Miniopteridae Miniopterus sp. Guinea 2015–2017‡ Luminex 27 0–0 (0–0) 0/234 (0)
Miniopterus sp. DRC 2015–2017‡ Luminex 205 0–0 (0–0)
M. minor
 DRC
 1995 (27)
 ELISA
 2
 0 (0)
Molossidae Chaerephon sp. Guinea 2015–2017‡ Luminex 44 0–0 (0–0) 0/401 (0)
C. pumilus Guinea 2014 (11) ELISA 1 0 (0)
C. ansorgei DRC 1995 (27) ELISA 120 0 (0)
C. major DRC 1979–1980 (26) IFA 26 0 (0)
C. pumilus
 DRC
 1995 (27)
 Elisa
 210
 0 (0)
Mops sp. Guinea 2015–2017‡ Luminex 230 0–0 (0–0) 4–9/705 (0.6–1.3)
Mops sp. Cameroon 2015–2017‡ Luminex 264 1–6 (0.4–2.3)
Mops sp. DRC 1979–1980 (26) IFA 158 0 (0)
Mops sp. DRC 1995 (27) ELISA 28 0 (0)
Mops condylurus Gabon 2003–2008 (13) ELISA 24 3 (12.5)
M. condylurus Guinea 2014 (11) ELISA 1 0 (0)
Myopterus whitleyi
 DRC
 1995 (27)
 ELISA
 2
 0 (0)
Nycteridae Nycteris sp. Guinea 2015–2017‡ Luminex 15 0–0 (0–0) 0/43 (0)
Nycteris sp. Guinea 2014 (11) ELISA 6 0 (0)
Nycteris sp. Cameroon 2015–2017‡ Luminex 7 0–0 (0–0)
Nycteris sp. DRC 1979–1980 (26) IFA 14 0 (0)
Nycteris hispida
 DRC
 1995 (27)
 ELISA
 1
 0 (0)
Rhinolophidae Rhinolophus sp. Guinea 2015–2017‡ Luminex 26 0–0 (0–0) 0/86 (0)
Rhinolophus sp. DRC 2015–2017‡ Luminex 6 0–0 (0–0)
Rhinolophus sp.
 Cameroon
 2015–2017‡
 Luminex
 54
 0–0 (0–0)
Vespertilionidae Glauconycteris variegata Cameroon 2015–2017‡ Luminex 3 0–0 (0–0) 0/143 (0)
Chalinolobus sp. DRC 1979–1980 (26) IFA 15 0 (0)
Eptesicus sp. DRC 1979–1980 (26) IFA 22 0 (0)
Eptesicus tenuipinnis DRC 1995 (27) ELISA 1 0 (0)
Kerivoula sp. Guinea 2014 (11) ELISA 1 0 (0)
Kerivoula sp. Cameroon 2015–2017‡ Luminex 1 0–0 (0–0)
Myotis bocagii Cameroon 2015–2017‡ Luminex 3 0–0 (0–0)
M. bocagii DRC 1995 (27) ELISA 22 0 (0)
M. bocagii DRC 1979–1980 (26) IFA 17 0 (0)
Neoromicia sp. Cameroon 2015–2017‡ Luminex 5 0–0 (0–0)
Pipistrellus nanus DRC 1995 (27) ELISA 2 0 (0)
Scotophilus nux Cameroon 2015–2017‡ Luminex 6 0–0 (0–0)
Scotophilus leucogaster Guinea 2015–2017‡ Luminex 15 0–0 (0–0)
Scotophilus nigrita Guinea 2015–2017‡ Luminex 1 0–0 (0–0)
Scotophilus dinganii DRC 1995 (27) ELISA 19 0 (0)
Scotophilus sp.
 DRC
 1979–1980 (26)
 IFA
 10
 0 (0)
Total 4–9/3,023 (0.13–0.30)

*DRC, the Democratic Republic of the Congo; IFA, immunofluorescence assay.
†For data from cited studies, the number of positive samples reported in the original study is indicated. For our results, we show the range in the number of samples simultaneously reactive with glycoprotein and nucleoprotein of Zaire Ebola virus on the basis of 4 different statistical methods used to determine cutoff values.
‡This study.

Main Article

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Main Article

1These first authors contributed equally to this article.

2These senior authors contributed equally to this article.

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Page updated: November 20, 2018
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