Isolation and molecular characterization of Fikirini rhabdovirus, a novel virus from a Kenyan bat

Rebekah C. Kading, Amy T. Gilbert, Eric C. Mossel, Mary B. Crabtree, Ivan V. Kuzmin, Michael Niezgoda, Bernard Agwanda, Wanda Markotter, M. Ryan Weil, Joel M. Montgomery, Charles E. Rupprecht, Barry R. Miller

¹Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Vector-borne Diseases, Arbovirus Diseases Branch, Fort Collins, CO, USA

²Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, Poxvirus and Rabies Branch, Atlanta, GA, USA

³National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya

⁴University of Pretoria, Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, Pretoria, South Africa

⁵SRA International, Atlanta, GA, USA

⁶Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office of Infectious Disease, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Atlanta, GA, USA

⁷Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Global Disease Detection Program, Nairobi, Kenya

Correspondence
Rebekah C. Kading fxk7{at}cdc.gov

Journal of General Virology 2013; 94(Pt 11):2393–2398 · https://doi.org/10.1099/vir.0.053983-0

Abstract

Zoonotic and vector-borne pathogens have comprised a significant component of emerging human infections in recent decades, and bats are increasingly recognized as reservoirs for many of these disease agents. To identify novel pathogens associated with bats, we screened tissues of bats collected in Kenya. Virus isolates were identified by next generation sequencing of viral nucleic acid preparations from the infected cell culture supernatant and characterized. Here we report the identification of Fikirini rhabdovirus, a novel rhabdovirus isolated from a bat, Hipposideros vittatus, captured along the Kenyan coast.