High Pathogenicity of Nipah Virus from Pteropus lylei Fruit Bats, Cambodia

Maria Gaudino (1) , Noémie Aurine (1) , Claire Dumont (1) , Julien Fouret (2, 3) , Marion Ferren (1) , Cyrille Mathieu (1) , Olivier Reynard (4) , Viktor E. Volchkov (4) , Catherine Legras-Lachuer (2, 5) , Marie Claude Georges-Courbot (6) , Branka Horvat (1)

1 IbIV - Immunobiologie des infections virales – Immunobiology of Viral Infections
2 Viroscan3D SAS [Lyon, France]
3 Virpath - Virpath-Grippe, de l'émergence au contrôle -- Virpath-Influenza, from emergence to control
4 BMPV - Bases moléculaires de la pathogénicité virale – Molecular Basis of Viral Pathogenicity
5 LEM - Laboratoire d'Ecologie Microbienne - UMR 5557
6 UBIVE - Biologie des Infections Virales Émergentes - Biology of Emerging Viral Infections

We conducted an in-depth characterization of the Nipah virus (NiV) isolate previously obtained from a Pteropus lylei bat in Cambodia in 2003 (CSUR381). We performed full-genome sequencing and phylogenetic analyses and confirmed CSUR381 is part of the NiV-Malaysia genotype. In vitro studies revealed similar cell permissiveness and replication of CSUR381 (compared with 2 other NiV isolates) in both bat and human cell lines. Sequence alignments indicated conservation of the ephrin-B2 and ephrin-B3 receptor binding sites, the glycosylation site on the G attachment protein, as well as the editing site in phosphoprotein, suggesting production of nonstructural proteins V and W, known to counteract the host innate immunity. In the hamster animal model, CSUR381 induced lethal infections. Altogether, these data suggest that the Cambodia bat-derived NiV isolate has high pathogenic potential and, thus, provide insight for further studies and better risk assessment for future NiV outbreaks in Southeast Asia.

Keywords: spillover; viruses; zoonoses; sequencing; phylogenetic analysis; phosphoprotein; pathogenicity; fruit bats; hamster; henipavirus; emerging infection; animal model; Pteropus lylei; CSUR381; NiV-Malaysia genotype; Cambodia; Nipah virus; Pteropus bats

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Microbiology and Parasitology; Virology

Maria Gaudino, Noémie Aurine, Claire Dumont, Julien Fouret, Marion Ferren, et al.. High Pathogenicity of Nipah Virus from Pteropus lylei Fruit Bats, Cambodia. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2020, 26 (1), pp.104 - 113. ⟨10.3201/eid2601.191284⟩. ⟨hal-03091393⟩