TY - JOUR
T1 - Detection of novel coronaviruses in bats in Myanmar
AU - Valitutto, Marc T.
AU - Aung, Ohnmar
AU - Tun, Kyaw Yan Naing
AU - Vodzak, Megan E.
AU - Zimmerman, Dawn
AU - Yu, Jennifer H.
AU - Win, Ye Tun
AU - Maw, Min Thein
AU - Thein, Wai Zin
AU - Win, Htay Htay
AU - Dhanota, Jasjeet
AU - Ontiveros, Victoria
AU - Smith, Brett
AU - Tremeau-Brevard, Alexandre
AU - Goldstein, Tracey
AU - Johnson, Christine K.
AU - Murray, Suzan
AU - Mazet, Jonna
PY - 2020/1/1
Y1 - 2020/1/1
N2 - The recent emergence of bat-borne zoonotic viruses warrants vigilant surveillance in their natural hosts. Of particular concern is the family of coronaviruses, which includes the causative agents of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and most recently, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), an epidemic of acute respiratory illness originating from Wuhan, China in December 2019. Viral detection, discovery, and surveillance activities were undertaken in Myanmar to identify viruses in animals at high risk contact interfaces with people. Free-ranging bats were captured, and rectal and oral swabs and guano samples collected for coronaviral screening using broadly reactive consensus conventional polymerase chain reaction. Sequences from positives were compared to known coronaviruses. Three novel alphacoronaviruses, three novel betacoronaviruses, and one known alphacoronavirus previously identified in other southeast Asian countries were detected for the first time in bats in Myanmar. Ongoing land use change remains a prominent driver of zoonotic disease emergence in Myanmar, bringing humans into ever closer contact with wildlife, and justifying continued surveillance and vigilance at broad scales.
AB - The recent emergence of bat-borne zoonotic viruses warrants vigilant surveillance in their natural hosts. Of particular concern is the family of coronaviruses, which includes the causative agents of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and most recently, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), an epidemic of acute respiratory illness originating from Wuhan, China in December 2019. Viral detection, discovery, and surveillance activities were undertaken in Myanmar to identify viruses in animals at high risk contact interfaces with people. Free-ranging bats were captured, and rectal and oral swabs and guano samples collected for coronaviral screening using broadly reactive consensus conventional polymerase chain reaction. Sequences from positives were compared to known coronaviruses. Three novel alphacoronaviruses, three novel betacoronaviruses, and one known alphacoronavirus previously identified in other southeast Asian countries were detected for the first time in bats in Myanmar. Ongoing land use change remains a prominent driver of zoonotic disease emergence in Myanmar, bringing humans into ever closer contact with wildlife, and justifying continued surveillance and vigilance at broad scales.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0230802
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0230802
M3 - Article
C2 - 32271768
AN - SCOPUS:85083010032
VL - 15
JO - PLoS One
JF - PLoS One
SN - 1932-6203
IS - 4
M1 - e0230802
ER -