Investigation on hantavirus and other virus (Bunyaviridae) in small mammals and their ectoparasites

• Grant number: 19/07443-1
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): May 01, 2019
• Effective date (End): March 31, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: Luiz Tadeu Moraes Figueiredo
• Grantee: Larissa Mayumi Bueno
• Home Institution: Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 14/02438-6 - Studies with Bunyaviridae that produce human disease, AP.TEM

Abstract

Bats have characteristics that favor the maintenance, evolution and dissemination of pathogens, such as the large number of species, flying ability, longevity, social habits and wide variety of eating habits. Another important characteristic of bats is the great contact with human beings, inhabiting human residences and urban centers. In recent years, more than 60 new viruses have been described for these animals, and we know little about the relationship of these viruses to human diseases. Among the viruses found in bats, we can mention Hantavirus, which was predominantly associated with rodents. Until 2012, there was only one report of hantavirus in bats, in which it describes an isolation of a pathogenic hantavirus, the Hantaan virus (HTNV), in bat lung tissues. Subsequently, all hantaviruses found in bats were not related to human disease. However, in 2018, there was evidence of a lethal genotype of the Andes orthohantavirus, Araraquara orthohantavirus (ARQV) among the Neotropical bats in Brazil, more specifically in the species Carollia perspicillata and Desmodus rotundus. Therefore, we propose to investigate the natural infection by hantavirus in bats captured and kept in captivity, and thus, to verify if the bats are persistently infected. In addition, we propose to evaluate the process of immunopathogenesis in Neotropical bats, in order to investigate the role of bats as hosts or natural reservoirs and, consequently, in the spread of disease-causing hantavirus. (AU)