MICROBIOLOGY AND NATURE

The hantavirus Mouyassué was first described in 2009 in banana pipistrelle (Neoromicia nanus) near Aboisso South East Côte d’Ivoire. In order to investigate the persistence of hantavirus in this region, eight years later we captured 163 banana pipistrelle in the same region. The use of nested RT -PCR allowed the detection of the virus within 30 banana pipistrelle that represents 18%. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed that the detected viruses all belonged to the hantavirus Mouyassué virus. These results demonstrated that banana pipistrelle constitute natural host of hantavirus in this area. Given that banana pipistrelles are commonly found in and around villages and frequently roost in the roofs of houses, further investigation is warranted to assess the potential risk of hantavirus transmission to humans.