An exploratory study in the indonesian archipelago: Are there influenza b virus (b-victoria sub-type) in the bat’s respiratory organs?

Bats act as hosts in carrying Influenza B disease and can act as a natural reservoir of various types of viruses, including Nipah virus, Hendra virus, and Ebola virus in mammals. This research aimed to study the presence of Influenza B virus (B-Victoria sub-type) in the respiration organs of bats (Chynoptera sp.) in Indonesian Archipelago. A total of 99 bats from several regions representing the islands in Indonesia were taken in Snowball sampling technique. Samples that had been isolated and passed the incubation period were tested using the Hemagglutination (HA) test and Hemagglutination Inhibition (HI) test. The data obtained were processed descriptively. The result showed that there were 13 samples positively in the Hemagglutination (HA) test (13.13%), but after going through the Hemagglutination Inhibition Test (HI) with B-Victoria antisera, no positive samples were found. We conclude that there was no virus type B influenza virus (B-Victoria sub-type) in the bat respiration organ.