A scientific team has isolated for the first time the Lloviu virus (LLOV), a close relative of Ebola, which was discovered in 2002 in bats from the Asturian cave of Lloviu.
According to the scientists, including from the Medway School of Pharmacy (a partnership between the British universities of Kent and Greenwich), the research shows that it is necessary to continue studying and learning more about the distribution of this virusto assess risks and “make sure we are prepared for potential epidemics and pandemics.”
the rain It is part of the filovirus family, to which the Ebola virus belongs.. While the latter (and other filoviruses, including Marburg virus of similar pathogenicity) have only occurred naturally in Africa, Lloviu was discovered in Europe.
The LLOV filovirus was identified through its genetic material (RNA) in 2002 in Schreiber’s bats (“Miniopterus schreibersii”) in Spain, in the Asturian cave, and was later detected in bats from Hungary.
As a zoonotic virus –transmitted between animals and humans– LLOV is of public health concern worldwide due to the close relationship people have with animals in agriculture, as companions and in the natural environment, explains a Medway statement.
“This is even more true in recent years with the continued destruction and invasion of the natural habitats of many wild creatures,” he adds.
The World Health Organization (WHO) states that zoonoses comprise a large percentage of all newly identified infectious diseases, as well as many existing ones.
Simon Scott and Nigel Temperton from Medway were part of a team led by Gábor Kemenesi from the National Laboratory of Virology at the University of Pécs in Hungary. The scientific team isolated the infectious LLOV from the blood of a living bat in Hungary.
“Our data support the role of bats, specifically ‘Miniopterus schreibersii’, as hosts of LLOV in Europe“, summarize the authors in their study.
It is significant, says the faculty, that the team has now discovered -in the laboratory- that Lloviu has the potential to infect human cells and also to replicate.
“This increases the concern of possible widespread transmission in Europe and urges immediate pathogenicity and antiviral studies,” he adds.
The work also revealed that there is no antibody cross-reactivity between LLOV and Ebola, suggesting that existing Ebola vaccines may not protect against Lloviuin case it is transmitted to humans.
“It is vital that we know more about the distribution of this virus and that there is research in this area to assess the risks and ensure that we are prepared for possible epidemics and pandemics,” Scott summarizes.
It follows from this research that there is a “considerable gap” in knowledge about the pathogenicity, animal hosts, and transmissibility of these newly discovered viruses, according to the authors.
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The group aims to carry out essential new research across Europe on the risks of Lloviu virus to humans, as well as other virus families such as coronaviruses and lyssaviruses (rabies) that have bats as hosts.
The paper recently reported by the Medway School of Pharmacy was published March 31 in Nature Communications.