Scientists have discovered two viruses closely related to the deadly Nipah and Hendra viruses, which lurk in the kidneys of bats near villages in Yunnan Province, China.
These findings have raised urgent concerns about potential spillovers to humans through contaminated fruits, as these bats live in orchards and can spread pathogens through urine.
This comprehensive study, published on PLOS pathogens, analyzed the kidney tissues of 142 bats in ten species in Yunnan Province over the past four years. The researchers identified 22 viral species, with a total of 20 previously unknown viral species, as well as bacterial species and parasites that have never been recorded before.
Deadly relatives discover
The most noteworthy discovery were the two Henipavires found in fruit bats living near rural orchards. These viruses belong to the same genus as the Nipah and Hendra viruses, which cause severe brain inflammation and respiratory diseases in humans, with a mortality rate of 35-75%.
One of the newly identified viruses, Yunnan bat Henipavirus 1, showed particularly close genetic similarity to human pathogens. It shares 70.33-71.33% of amino acid identity with Nipah and Hendra viruses in key proteins, making it a recently known relative of the pathogenic HENIPAVIRASE discovered to date.
“These findings expand our understanding of bat kidney infection, highlight critical zoonotic threats, and highlight the need for comprehensive, full spectrum microbial analysis of previously studied organs to better assess spillover risk in bat populations,” the authors said.
Geographical significance
This discovery marks the fully detected Henipavirus genome in Chinese bats, given the location of Yunnan is particularly important. Southwest Province borders Southeast Asian countries and is geographically close to Malaysia, the Nipa virus first appeared in 1998-1999, killing more than 100 people.
Previous studies have found that antibodies to Nipa-like viruses were shown to be widely exposed in bats in several Chinese provinces, including Yunnan. However, this study provides evidence for the first genome size for HENIPAVIRUS diversity in China and confirms their zoonotic potential.
Transmission risk
Researchers have found that these dangerous viruses are specifically found in orchards living near human villages. Since HENIPAVIRAS can be transmitted through BAT urine, this proximity involves the consumption of human exposure through contaminated fruits.
Tests revealed viruses present in multiple organs in infected bats, although the kidneys had significantly higher viral load than heart, liver, lung or intestinal tissue. It is worth noting that there is no detectable virus in brain tissue, indicating that the kidney is the main replication site.
Key transmission issues include:
- Fruit bats living in rural orchards, directly entering human food sources
- Viruses contaminate fruit crops through bat urine falling off
- High virus concentrations in bat kidneys increase environmental pollution
- Geographical distance from the previously appeared areas of Nipa
- Evidence of viral replication across multiple bat organ systems
A wider range of microbial discoveries
In addition to the threat of HENIPAVIRUS, the researchers identified many other microorganisms in bat kidneys that received little attention. The study revealed 20 new viral species in 12 families, as well as bacterial species including the newly discovered Flavobacterium.
Most interestingly, they found a protozoa parasite tentatively named Klossiella Yunnanensis, and evidence that some of the found viruses actually infected the parasite, not the bat itself. This discovery highlights the complex ecological relationships in bat-related microbial communities.
This study represents the first comprehensive characterization of bat kidney infection, suggesting that these organs have a unique microbial community compared to previously studied bat tissues such as feces or rectum.
Surveillance Meaning
These findings highlight key gaps in current disease surveillance efforts that focus primarily on bat feces samples while largely neglecting other organs. Since kidney-related pathogens can be detached from urine, future monitoring should be included in both kidney and urine sampling to comprehensively assess the risk of transmission.
The study also shows that pooling samples, while conducting extensive investigations, may mask detection of low-abundance microorganisms and prevent accurate assessment of co-infection within individual animals. More detailed personal-level sampling may reveal other threats currently hidden in the aggregated data.
Given the proximity of these virus-carrying bats to human settlements and food sources, enhanced surveillance is critical to preventing potential spillover events that could trigger a future pandemic similar to the past HENIPAVIRUS outbreaks in Malaysia and Australia.
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