RABIES DIAGNOSIS AND RESPONSE TO VACCINATION IN SOUTHERN TAMANDUA (TAMANDUA TETRADACTYLA).

Rabies has rarely been described in Xenarthra, and rabies vaccine response has not been documented. A southern tamandua (Tamandua tetradactyla) presented with nonspecific clinical signs and was euthanatized. Subsequently, immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR confirmed a rabies diagnosis. Following these tests, a group of eight captive tamanduas were vaccinated with a killed rabies vaccine, and titers were measured at the time of vaccination and 23 d later. One animal had day 0 titers suggestive of previous vaccination or exposure. All animals had detectable neutralizing rabies virus antibody titers after vaccination, but one animal failed to meet the World Organization for Animal Health's definition for adequate vaccination (≥0.5 IU/ml), and two other animals had low antibody titers (0.56 and 0.6 IU/ml). Rabies should be considered as a possible cause of illness in tamanduas, and rabies vaccination may be a useful preventative measure when anthropic interaction through medical care or ambassador roles is occurring.

Human Exposure to Novel Bartonella Species from Contact with Fruit Bats.

Twice a year in southwestern Nigeria, during a traditional bat festival, community participants enter designated caves to capture bats, which are then consumed for food or traded. We investigated the presence of Bartonella species in Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) and bat flies (Eucampsipoda africana) from these caves and assessed whether Bartonella infections had occurred in persons from the surrounding communities. Our results indicate that these bats and flies harbor Bartonella strains, which multilocus sequence typing indicated probably represent a novel Bartonella species, proposed as Bartonella rousetti. In serum from 8 of 204 persons, we detected antibodies to B. rousetti without cross-reactivity to other Bartonella species. This work suggests that bat-associated Bartonella strains might be capable of infecting humans.

Assessment of potential zoonotic disease exposure and illness related to an annual bat festival--Idanre, Nigeria.

Bats provide vital ecologic services that humans benefit from, such as seed dispersal and pest control, and are a food source for some human populations. However, bats also are reservoirs for a number of high-consequence zoonoses, including paramyxoviruses, filoviruses, and lyssaviruses. The variety of viruses that bats harbor might be related to their evolutionary diversity, ability to fly large distances, long lifespans, and gregarious roosting behaviors. Every year a festival takes place in Idanre, Nigeria, in which males of all ages enter designated caves to capture bats; persons are forbidden from entering the caves outside of these festivities. Festival participants use a variety of techniques to capture bats, but protective equipment rarely is used, placing hunters at risk for bat scratches and bites. Many captured bats are prepared as food, but some are transported to markets in other parts of the country for sale as bushmeat. Bats also are presented to dignitaries in elaborate rituals. The health consequences of contact with these bats are unknown, but a number of viruses have been previously identified among Nigerian bats, including lyssaviruses, pegiviruses, and coronaviruses. Furthermore, the caves are home to Rousettus aegyptiacus bats, which are reservoirs for Marburg virus in other parts of Africa.

Raccoon rabies virus variant transmission through solid organ transplantation.

IMPORTANCE: The rabies virus causes a fatal encephalitis and can be transmitted through tissue or organ transplantation. In February 2013, a kidney recipient with no reported exposures to potentially rabid animals died from rabies 18 months after transplantation. OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether organ transplantation was the source of rabies virus exposure in the kidney recipient, and to evaluate for and prevent rabies in other transplant recipients from the same donor. DESIGN: Organ donor and all transplant recipient medical records were reviewed. Laboratory tests to detect rabies virus-specific binding antibodies, rabies virus neutralizing antibodies, and rabies virus antigens were conducted on available specimens, including serum, cerebrospinal fluid, and tissues from the donor and the recipients. Viral ribonucleic acid was extracted from tissues and amplified for nucleoprotein gene sequencing for phylogenetic comparisons. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Determination of whether the donor died from undiagnosed rabies and whether other organ recipients developed rabies. RESULTS: In retrospect, the donor's clinical presentation (which began with vomiting and upper extremity paresthesias and progressed to fever, seizures, dysphagia, autonomic dysfunction, and brain death) was consistent with rabies. Rabies virus antigen was detected in archived autopsy brain tissue collected from the donor. The rabies viruses infecting the donor and the deceased kidney recipient were consistent with the raccoon rabies virus variant and were more than 99.9% identical across the entire N gene (1349/1350 nucleotides), thus confirming organ transplantation as the route of transmission. The 3 other organ recipients remained asymptomatic, with rabies virus neutralizing antibodies detected in their serum after completion of postexposure prophylaxis (range, 0.3-40.8 IU/mL). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Unlike the 2 previous clusters of rabies virus transmission through solid organ transplantation, there was a long incubation period in the recipient who developed rabies, and survival of 3 other recipients without pretransplant rabies vaccination. Rabies should be considered in patients with acute progressive encephalitis of unexplained etiology, especially for potential organ donors. A standard evaluation of potential donors who meet screening criteria for infectious encephalitis should be considered, and risks and benefits for recipients of organs from these donors should be evaluated.

A high throughput neutralization test based on GFP expression by recombinant rabies virus.

The effectiveness of rabies vaccination in both humans and animals is determined by the presence of virus neutralizing antibodies (VNAs). The Rapid Fluorescent Focus Inhibition Test (RFFIT) is the method traditionally used for detection and quantification of VNAs. It is a functional in vitro test for assessing the ability of antibodies in serum to bind and prevent infection of cultured cells with rabies virus (RABV). The RFFIT is a labor intensive, low throughput and semi-quantitative assay performed by trained laboratorians. It requires staining of RABV-infected cells by rabies specific fluorescent antibodies and manual quantification of fluorescent fields for titer determination. Although the quantification of fluorescent fields observed in each sample is recorded, the corresponding images are not stored or captured to be used for future analysis. To circumvent several of these disadvantages, we have developed an alternative, automated high throughput neutralization test (HTNT) for determination of rabies VNAs based on green fluorescent protein (GFP) expression by a recombinant RABV and compared with the RFFIT. The HTNT assay utilizes the recombinant RABV ERA variant expressing GFP with a nuclear localization signal (NLS) for efficient quantification. The HTNT is a quantitative method where the number of RABV-infected cells are determined and the images are stored for future analysis. Both RFFIT and HTNT results correlated 100% for a panel of human and animal positive and negative rabies serum samples. Although, the VNA titer values are generally agreeable, HTNT titers tend to be lower than that of RFFIT, probably due to the differences in quantification methods. Our data demonstrates the potential for HTNT assays in determination of rabies VNA titers.

Influence of oral rabies vaccine bait density on rabies seroprevalence in wild raccoons.

The effect of different oral rabies vaccine (ORV) bait densities (75, 150, and 300 baits/km(2)) on the seroprevalence of rabies virus neutralizing antibodies (RVNAs) in raccoons (Procyon lotor) was assessed at a 15% seroprevalence difference threshold in rural areas of northeast Ohio. Results (n=588 raccoons) indicated that seropositivity for RVNAs was associated with both bait density and bait campaign frequency. Associations were not detected for raccoon gender, age, or macro-habitat. The odds of being seropositive were greater for raccoons originating from 300 bait/km(2) treatment areas relative to those coming from the 75 bait/km(2) areas (odds ratio [OR]=4.4, probability [P]<0.001, 95% confidence interval [CI]=2.4-7.9), while accounting for cumulative ORV campaigns. No statistical advantage in seroprevalence was detected when comparing 150-75 baits/km(2). These results indicate that a relatively extreme bait density when evenly distributed may be necessary to obtain a significant increase in seroprevalence. Higher bait densities may be more appropriate and less costly to address focused outbreaks than labor intensive trap-vaccinate-release and local population reduction campaigns. Finally, dramatic increases in seroprevalence of RVNA were not observed in raccoons between sequential, semi-annual campaigns, yet cumulative ORV campaigns were associated with gradual increases in seroprevalence.