Human Betacoronavirus 2c EMC/2012–related Viruses in Bats, Ghana and Europe

The Study

Conclusions

Acknowledgments

References

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Technical Appendix Figure [240 KB - 2 pages]

Suggested Citation

Augustina Annan¹, Heather J. Baldwin¹, Victor Max Corman¹, Stefan M. Klose, Michael Owusu, Evans Ewald Nkrumah, Ebenezer Kofi Badu, Priscilla Anti, Olivia Agbenyega, Benjamin Meyer, Samuel Oppong, Yaw Adu Sarkodie, Elisabeth K.V. Kalko², Peter H.C. Lina, Elena V. Godlevska, Chantal Reusken, Antje Seebens, Florian Gloza-Rausch, Peter Vallo, Marco Tschapka, Christian Drosten, and Jan Felix Drexler

Author affiliations: Author affiliations: Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine, Kumasi, Ghana (A. Annan, M. Owusu); Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (H.J. Baldwin); University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany (H.J. Baldwin, S.M. Klose, E.K.V. Kalko, P. Vallo, M. Tschapka); University of Bonn Medical Centre, Bonn, Germany (V.M. Corman, B. Meyer, F. Gloza-Rausch, C. Drosten, J.F. Drexler); Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi (E.E. Nkrumah, E.K. Badu, P. Anti, O. Agbenyega, S. Oppong, Y.A. Sarkodie); Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama (E.K.V. Kalko, M. Tschapka); Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, the Netherlands (P.H.C. Lina); Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology, Kiev, Ukraine (E.V. Godlevska); Netherlands Center for Infectious Disease Control, Bilthoven, the Netherlands (C. Reusken); Noctalis, Centre for Bat Protection and Information, Bad Segeberg, Germany (A. Seebens, F. Gloza-Rausch); Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i., Brno, Czech Republic (P. Vallo)

Abstract

We screened fecal specimens of 4,758 bats from Ghana and 272 bats from 4 European countries for betacoronaviruses. Viruses related to the novel human betacoronavirus EMC/2012 were detected in 46 (24.9%) of 185 Nycteris bats and 40 (14.7%) of 272 Pipistrellus bats. Their genetic relatedness indicated EMC/2012 originated from bats.

Coronaviruses (CoVs) are enveloped viruses with a positive-sense, single-stranded RNA genome (1). CoVs are classified into 4 genera: Alphacoronavirus, Betacoronavirus (grouped further into clades 2a–2d), Gammacoronavirus, and Deltacoronavirus. Two human coronaviruses (hCoVs), termed hCoV-OC43 and −229E, have been known since the 1960s and cause chiefly mild respiratory disease (2). In 2002–2003, an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) leading to ≈850 deaths was caused by a novel group 2b betacoronavirus, SARS-CoV (3). A likely animal reservoir for SARS-CoV was identified in rhinolophid bats (4,5). In the aftermath of the SARS pandemic, 2 hCoVs, termed hCoV-NL63 and -HKU1, and numerous novel bat CoVs were described.
In September 2012, health authorities worldwide were notified of 2 cases of severe respiratory disease caused by a novel hCoV (6,7). This virus, termed EMC/2012, was related to the 2c betacoronavirus clade, which had only been known to contain Tylonycteris bat coronavirus HKU4 and Pipistrellus bat coronavirus HKU5 (8).
We previously identified highly diversified alphacoronaviruses and betacoronaviruses, but not clade 2c betacoronaviruses, in bats from Ghana (9). We also identified sequence fragments from a 2c betacoronavirus from 1 Pipistrellus bat in Europe (10). In this study, we analyzed an extended sample of 4,758 bats from Ghana and 272 bats from 4 European countries.