Serum Neutralization Profiles of Straw-Colored Fruit Bats (Eidolon helvum) in Makurdi (Nigeria), against Four Lineages of Lagos Bat Lyssavirus

Lyssaviruses cause rabies, a fatal disease in animals and humans. Currently, there

are 17 recognized lyssavirus species [1]. Lagos bat lyssaviruses (LBVs) have so far been

exclusively identified in Africa. The first Lagos bat lyssavirus was isolated from a straw-

colored fruit bat (E. helvum) on Lagos Island (Nigeria) in 1956 [2]. This lyssavirus was

subsequently classified as a different lyssavirus species from classical rabies virus in 1970

based on results of complement fixation and virus neutralization tests and it was later

classified as LBV lineage B (LBV-B) and remains the only LBV isolated from E. helvum in

Nigeria so far [3–6]. Natural and experimental infections and pathogenesis of LBVs have

been studied in E. helvum [7–10].

Currently, four lineages of LBV have been identified on the African continent. Lineage

A (LBV-A) was isolated from E. helvum in Senegal, Ghana and Kenya and also from a Rousettus aegyptiacus bat exported to France from either Togo or Egypt [3,4,11]. No informa-tion on the distribution of lineage B (LBV-B) is available. Lineage C (LBV-C) was identified in Epomophorus wahlbergi in South Africa and Micropteropus pussilus on one occasion in the Central African Republic.

viruses-Lineages of LBV in bats in MKD.pdf

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