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Principal Investigator: Emily Suzanne Gurley
Organization: JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
Fiscal Year: 2024
Award: $666,608
Funding agency: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Abstract
Until and unless we better understand and prevent spillovers of bat-borne viruses into intermediate hosts
and humans, we will be severely limited in our ability to stop pandemics. Henipaviruses are bat-borne, RNA
viruses that spillover through this route. Nearly half of all reported human henipavirus infections have been
associated with contact with sick domesticated animals, though our understanding of drivers of henipavirus
spillovers and specific transmission pathways remains severely limited. Building on preliminary data about
bat, domesticated animal and human infections, this multidisciplinary study integrates epidemiology, ecology,
and anthropology to identify spillover pathways for henipaviruses into domesticated animals in Bangladesh and
the risk they pose to human health. Our first aim is to identify drivers of henipavirus spillovers into
domesticated animals in Faridpur, Bangladesh. We will use multiplex pan-henipavirus assays to identify
infections in Pteropus medius bats and domesticated animals living nearby this roost through cross-sectional
and prospective studies. Combined with intensive studies of bat-domesticated animal interactions and weather
data, we will build statistical models to identify the relative contribution of each of these factors. Our second aim
is to describe which henipaviruses are being transmitted from bats to domesticated animals. Serologic
studies of animals in Bangladesh show that they are frequently infected with non-Nipah henipaviruses. Through
surveillance for and sampling of sick domesticated animals, we will describe the specific viruses that spillover
from bats in Faridpur. Our third aim is to determine the risk of henipavirus transmission from domesticated
animals to humans. We hypothesize that undetected henipavirus spillovers in humans are occurring through
contact with sick domesticated animals and will conduct cross-sectional and prospective serosurveys of humans
who have close contact with sick animals in Faridpur. We remain ignorant about henipavirus spillovers
through intermediate hosts – including the specific viruses spilling over, the frequency and distribution of
spillovers, and the pathways of transmission – at our own peril. The knowledge gained from this study will be
immediately applicable to human and animal health programs in Bangladesh and other countries where
henipaviruses circulate in bats. By learning about which henipaviruses infect humans, and how they are infected,
we can advise public health surveillance programs on how to optimize detection and epidemiologic
investigation of cases across Bangladesh. Our investigations about spillovers in Faridpur can also be scaled-
up to other areas of Bangladesh and countries where henipaviruses circulate in bats so that we can truly begin
to appreciate the scale of henipavirus spillovers in the global landscape.
Terms: <0-11 years old><Animals><Anthropology><Antibodies><Area><Assay><Australia><Bangladesh><Bats><Bioassay><Biological Assay><Bionomics><Bite><Bovine Species><Canine Species><Canis familiaris><Caprine Species><Cats><Cats Mammals><Cattle><Characteristics><Child><Child Youth><Children (0-21)><Chiroptera><Consumption><Coronaviridae><Coronavirus><Country><Data><Detection><Disease Outbreaks><Dogs><Dogs Mammals><Domestic Animals><Domestic Cats><Domestic Horse><Ecology><Epidemiologic Research><Epidemiologic Studies><Epidemiological Studies><Epidemiology><Epidemiology Research><Equine><Equine Morbillivirus><Equine Species><Equus caballus><Equus przewalskii><Exclusion><Exposure to><Family Pteropodidae><Family suidae><Federation of Malaya><Feline Species><Felis catus><Felis domestica><Felis domesticus><Felis sylvestris catus><Flying Foxes><Frequencies><Fruit><Genus Pteropus><Goat><Goats Mammals><Health><Hendra Virus><Hendra henipavirus><Henipavirus><Henipavirus Infections><Horses><Human><Immunology><Infection><Infection prevention><Investigation><Knowledge><Learning><Malay Federation><Malaya><Malaysia><Modern Man><NIH><National Institutes of Health><Neurologic><Neurological><Nipah><Nipah Virus><Nipah henipavirus><Outbreaks><Pathway interactions><Persons><Philipines><Philippines><Phillipines><Phillippines><Phoenix dactylifera><Pigs><Population Surveillance><Prevent infection><Preventative strategy><Prevention strategy><Preventive strategy><Probabilistic Models><Probability Models><Prospective Studies><Pteropodidae><Pteropus><Public Health><Public Health Surveillance><RNA Viruses><Reporting><Risk><Route><Sampling><Serology><Singapore><Site><Statistical Models><Suggestion><Suidae><Surveillance Program><Swine><System><Systematic Bias><Transmission><Trees><United States National Institutes of Health><Update><Vaccines><Variant><Variation><Virus><bat-borne><batborne><bovid><bovine><canine><corona virus><cow><cross-species spillover><cross-species transmission><date palm><dietary fruit><domestic dog><domesticated animal><epidemiologic><epidemiologic investigation><epidemiological><epidemiology study><host jump><host switching><interspecies transmission><kids><meteorological data><multidisciplinary><pandemic><pandemic concern><pandemic disease><pandemic potential><pandemic risk><pandemic threat><pathway><porcine><prevent><preventing><programs><prospective><reproductive><respiratory><scale up><serology survey><serosurvey><statistical linear mixed models><statistical linear models><suid><transmission across species><transmission between species><transmission process><transmitted across species><transmitted between species><transmitted cross-species><weather data><weather patterns><youngster>