Faculty Affairs and Academic Programs
Cara Brook
Life Sciences; Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences
Integrative Biology
UC Berkeley
Preventing pandemics with wild bat vaccines in Madagascar
Bats are natural reservoirs for the most virulent zoonotic viruses, including Marburg filovirus, SARS coronaviruses, and Nipah henipavirus (HNV)[1]. In the wake of COVID-19--caused by a bat coronavirus zoonosis--the pandemic preparedness community has called for eradication of zoonotic pathogens from wildlife reservoirs to prevent future pandemics[2]. Previously, vaccination of domestic dogs and wild carnivores has effectively eliminated rabies zoonoses in Europe and North America. Here, we will evaluate wild bat vaccines as a tool to eradicate bat-borne zoonoses before human emergence. In a 13-year longitudinal field study, we have documented circulation of zoonotic HNVs in wild Eidolon dupreanum fruit bats endemic to the island nation of Madagascar[3, 4]. Bats are consumed in Madagascar as human food, offering opportunities for zoonosis[5]. Our ongoing serological analysis of human samples[6] documents exposure to HNVs across Madagascar--which may explain frequent undiagnosed human fevers[7]. With UCLA’s Hector Aguilar-Carreño, we have developed a multivalent HNV vaccine, using pseudotyped vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) virions incorporating HNV antigens[8], which we will test in E. dupreanum. Specifically, we will: (1) use computational models of E. dupreanum HNV transmission to evaluate optimal vaccination coverage needed to achieve HNV elimination in the wild; (2) test the potency, breadth, and durability of our VSV-HNV vaccine in captive E. dupreanum at the Madagascar national zoo; and (3), field-test our vaccine in an island sub-population of E. dupreanum to monitor impacts on HNV dynamics. Ultimately, we aim to eradicate zoonotic HNVs from wild bat hosts.
