#19 bats as a form of Zoonoses

Question 1

what family is Hendra and Nipah virus

Answer 1

Paramyxoviridae

-ssRNA

Question 2

what is unique about Hendra and Nipah virus?

Answer 2

the genome is very large
much larger than other paramyxoviridae
they have much larger non-coding regions

Question 3

where did Hendra and Nipah originate?

Answer 3

bats?

Question 4

how did the first hendra outbreak transmit?

Answer 4

from bats > horse > human

there was no human to human transmission

Question 5

how did the first outbreak of Nipah occur?

what about the second?

Answer 5

bats > pigs > humans

second outbreak was bat directly to human, then human to human transmission

Question 6

what is the reservoir of nipah?

Answer 6

bats

Question 7

what family is SARS?

Answer 7

-coronaviridae

+ssRNA

Question 8

what is unique about SARS?

Answer 8

it has a large genome -over 30kB

Question 9

did SARS come back?

Answer 9

yes - in the form of MERS

Question 10

what family is MERS?

Answer 10

coronaviridae

Question 11

does SARS need a intermediate host?

Answer 11

yes -

Question 12

what is SADS

Answer 12

a relative of SARS
hasnt come to humans yet but may
is killing pigs at the moment

Question 13

what family is the Malaka virus

Answer 13

reovirus
dsRNA
genus orthoreovirus

Question 14

how is Malaka virus transmitted

Answer 14

• bat to human
  then human to human
  (dad was infected by bat and then gave to children)
  gives severe pneumonia

Question 15

what is the resevoir of Malaka virus

Answer 15

bats

Question 16

is Malaka virus fusogenic or non-fusogenic

Answer 16

non-fusogenic

Question 17

what family is ebolavirus

Answer 17

filoviridae

-ssRNA

Question 18

can ebola be isolated ?

Answer 18

not yet

there is no vaccine

Question 19

what is the death rate of ebola?

Answer 19

40%

Question 20

why is it believed bats are the reservoir for Ebola?

Answer 20

there is a related virus in bats called Mengla virus

Question 21

can you produce clinical signs from virus infection in bats

Answer 21

it is difficult to show signs of virus in bats however you can isolate virus from them

Question 22

is there higher viral prevelence in bats?

Answer 22

yes bats can carry more species of virus

Question 23

is there higher genetic diversity of virus in bats?

Answer 23

yes

Question 24

what makes bats special?

Answer 24

bats have enhanced DNA damage repair
bats have reduced inflammation
they have elevated innate defence
they have dampened innate responses and increased tolerance of viruses

Question 25

what is different between bats and humans?

Answer 25

our inflammation response is different

Question 26

how is inflammation different in humans and bats

Answer 26

human base line level of inflammation is low bat baseline inflammation is higher when a virus enters humans will have a high increase of inflammatory molecules. IFNa will not be expressed until danger is sensed in bats they have a high level of IFNa, when there is a virus they do not need to increase inflammatory molecules

Question 27

how does a high basal level of HSPs help the bat?

Answer 27

- heat shock proteins are produced when a cell is stressed - in bats these are on without any stress - HSPs in bats help protein folding - they cause a hyper-folding environment - allows viruses to tolerate mutations hence bats can harbour increased diversity of viruses HSPs help protein folding

Question 28

what is a hyper-folding environment

Answer 28

caused by high levels of HSPs | when there are HSPs this creates a hyper-folding environment where viruses can tolerate mutations better

Question 29

what is a hypo-folding environment

Answer 29

less HSPs in cell | when there are less HSPs this creates a hypo-folding environment where viruses cannot tolerate mutations well

Question 30

how do bats have dampened immune activation?

Answer 30

- they have dampened STING pathway -STING is not as active in bats as it is in human cells - dampened response to cytosolic dsDNA bat also dont have 2 sensors AIM2 and IFI16

Question 31

how do bats dampen inflammation?

Answer 31

they dampen every step of the inflammasome pathway

Question 32

how do bats tolerate MERS?

Answer 32

- in human cells MERS will stimulate inflammasome activation | in bats there is NO inflammation from MERS hence it can tolerate the virus

Question 33

what causes efficient DNA repair in bats?

Answer 33

high oxidative stress from flying

Question 34

do bats have less cancer and live longer?

Answer 34

yes