The Serological Prevalence of Rabies Virus-Neutralizing Antibodies in the Bat Population on the Caribbean Island of Trinidad.

ABSTRACT: : Rabies virus (RABV) is the only lyssavirus known to be present within the Caribbean. The island of Trinidad, is richly diverse in chiropteran fauna and endemic for bat-transmitted rabies with low RABV isolation rates observed in this population. We aimed to determine the seroprevalence of rabies virus neutralizing antibodies (RVNA) in light of spatio-temporal and bat demographic factors to infer the extent of natural exposure to RABV in the Trinidadian bat population. RVNA titers were determined by the RABV micro-neutralization test on 383 bat samples representing 21 species, comprising 30.9% of local bat diversity, from 31 locations across the island over 5 years. RVNA was positively detected in 33 samples (8.6%) representing 6 bat species (mainly frugivorous) with titers ranging

SUBMITTER: Seetahal JFR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7077287 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature