Novel Betaherpesviruses in Neotropical Bats on the Caribbean Island of St. Kitts: First Report from Antillean Tree Bats (Ardops nichollsi) and Evidence for Cross-Species Transmission

To date, limited information is available on herpesviruses in bats from the Caribbean region. We report here high detection rates (24.24%, n = 66) of herpesviruses in oral samples from apparently healthy bats (<i>Ardops nichollsi</i> (75%, 9/12) and <i>Molossus molossus</i> (28%, 7/25)) on the Lesser Antillean Island of St. Kitts. Based on analysis of partial DNA polymerase (DPOL) sequences (~225 amino acid (aa) residues), we identified two distinct groups of herpesviruses (BO-I and -II) that were unique to <i>A. nichollsi</i> and <i>M. molossus</i>, respectively. Within the subfamily <i>Betaherpesvirinae</i>, the BO-I DPOL sequences shared low deduced aa identities (<70%) with other herpesviruses, and phylogenetically, they formed a distinct cluster, representing a putative novel betaherpesvirus. The BO-II DPOL sequences were closely related to a putative novel betaherpesvirus from a <i>M. molossus</i> in Lesser Antillean Island of Martinique, indicating possible transmission of herpesviruses by bat movement between the Caribbean Islands. Phylogenetically, the BO-I and -II betaherpesviruses exhibited species-specific (<i>A. nichollsi</i> and <i>M. molossus</i>, respectively) as well as family-specific (<i>Phyllostomidae</i> and <i>Molossidae</i>, respectively) clustering patterns, corroborating the hypothesis on host specificity of betaherpesviruses. Interestingly, a single <i>M. molossus</i> betaherpesvirus strain clustered with the <i>A. nichollsi</i> betaherpesviruses, indicating possible interspecies transmission of herpesviruses between <i>Phyllostomidae</i> and <i>Molossidae</i>. To our knowledge, this is the first report on detection of herpesviruses from Antillean tree bats (<i>A. nichollsi</i>), expanding the host range of betaherpesviruses. Taken together, the present study identified putative novel betaherpesviruses that might be unique to chiropteran species (<i>A. nichollsi</i> and <i>M. molossus)</i>, indicating virus-host coevolution, and provided evidence for interspecies transmission of betaherpesviruses between chiropteran families.