Tyem, Dinchi A.Dogonyaro, Banenat BajehsonWoma, Timothy A.Ngoepe, Ernest ChueneSabeta, Claude Taurai2018-05-142018-05-142017-07-09Tyem, D.A., Dogonyaro, B.B., Woma, T.A. et al. 2017, 'Sero-surveillance of Lyssavirus specific antibodies in Nigerian fruit bats (Eidolon helvum)', Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, vol. 2, no. 26, pp. 1-4.2414-6366 (online)10.3390/tropicalmed2030026http://hdl.handle.net/2263/64944The aetiological agent of rabies is a member of the Lyssavirus genus (Rhabdoviridae family, order Mononegavirales). The disease (rabies) is endemic in many parts of Asia and Africa and still remains an important public and veterinary health threat. In Nigeria, there is a dearth of information on the natural infection and/or exposure of bat species to lyssaviruses. Therefore, this study was undertaken to assess the prevalence of rabies virus (RABV) neutralizing antibodies in sera obtained from bats from the central Plateau and North-East Bauchi States in Nigeria. Two hundred serum samples were collected from Nigerian fruit bats from six different locations and tested for anti-RABV antibodies using a commercial blocking ELISA. Of the 200 bat serum samples collected, one batch consisting of 111 samples did not meet the validation criteria and hence was not included in the final analysis. Of the remaining 89, only three (3.4%) contained anti-lyssavirus antibodies, demonstrating a low prevalence of lyssavirus antibodies in the study population. In order to further understand the exposure of bat species to phylogroup II lyssaviruses (Lagos bat virus and Mokola virus), the same panel of samples will be tested for neutralizing antibodies to phylogroup II members, viruses that do not cross-neutralize with members of phylogroup I.en© 2017 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).LyssavirusRabiesEidolon helvumNigeriaBlocking ELISAPhylogroup IPhylogroup IIRabies virus (RABV)Article