Back
Identification of a novel hantavirus strain in the root vole (Microtus oeconomus) in Lithuania, Eastern Europe.
Journal article

Identification of a novel hantavirus strain in the root vole (Microtus oeconomus) in Lithuania, Eastern Europe.

  • Drewes S Institute of Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Südufer 10, 17493 Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany.
  • Jeske K Institute of Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Südufer 10, 17493 Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany; Institute of Diagnostic Virology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Südufer 10, 17493 Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany.
  • Straková P Institute of Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Südufer 10, 17493 Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany; Department of Virology, Veterinary Research Institute, Hudcova 70, 62100 Brno, Czech Republic.
  • Balčiauskas L Nature Research Centre, Akademijos 2, LT-08412 Vilnius, Lithuania.
  • Ryll R Institute of Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Südufer 10, 17493 Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany.
  • Balčiauskienė L Nature Research Centre, Akademijos 2, LT-08412 Vilnius, Lithuania.
  • Kohlhause D Institute of Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Südufer 10, 17493 Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany; University Greifswald, Domstraße 11, 17498 Greifswald, Germany.
  • Schnidrig GA Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Baltzerstrasse 6, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.
  • Hiltbrunner M Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Baltzerstrasse 6, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.
  • Špakova A Institute of Biotechnology, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Saulėtekio al. 7, LT-10257 Vilnius, Lithuania.
  • Insodaitė R Institute of Biotechnology, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Saulėtekio al. 7, LT-10257 Vilnius, Lithuania.
  • Petraitytė-Burneikienė R Institute of Biotechnology, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Saulėtekio al. 7, LT-10257 Vilnius, Lithuania.
  • Heckel G Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Baltzerstrasse 6, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.
  • Ulrich RG Institute of Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Südufer 10, 17493 Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany. Electronic address: rainer.ulrich@fli.de.
Show more…
  • 2020-09-05
Published in:
  • Infection, genetics and evolution : journal of molecular epidemiology and evolutionary genetics in infectious diseases. - 2020
Genome sequence
Hybrid sequence capture
Lithuania
Microtus oeconomus
Reservoir host
Rusne hantavirus
Tatenale hantavirus
Traemmersee hantavirus
English Hantaviruses are zoonotic pathogens that can cause subclinical to lethal infections in humans. In Europe, five orthohantaviruses are present in rodents: Myodes-associated Puumala orthohantavirus (PUUV), Microtus-associated Tula orthohantavirus, Traemmersee hantavirus (TRAV)/ Tatenale hantavirus (TATV)/ Kielder hantavirus, rat-borne Seoul orthohantavirus, and Apodemus-associated Dobrava-Belgrade orthohantavirus (DOBV). Human PUUV and DOBV infections were detected previously in Lithuania, but the presence of Microtus-associated hantaviruses is not known. For this study we screened 234 Microtus voles, including root voles (Microtus oeconomus), field voles (Microtus agrestis) and common voles (Microtus arvalis) from Lithuania for hantavirus infections. This initial screening was based on reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) targeting the S segment and serological analysis. A novel hantavirus was detected in eight of 79 root voles tentatively named "Rusne virus" according to the capture location and complete genome sequences were determined. In the coding regions of all three genome segments, Rusne virus showed high sequence similarity to TRAV and TATV and clustered with Kielder hantavirus in phylogenetic analyses of partial S and L segment sequences. Pairwise evolutionary distance analysis confirmed Rusne virus as a strain of the species TRAV/TATV. Moreover, we synthesized the entire nucleocapsid (N) protein of Rusne virus in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We observed cross-reactivity of antibodies raised against other hantaviruses, including PUUV, with this new N protein. ELISA investigation of all 234 voles detected Rusne virus-reactive antibodies exclusively in four of 79 root voles, all being also RNA positive, but not in any other vole species. In conclusion, the detection of Rusne virus RNA in multiple root voles at the same trapping site during three years and its absence in sympatric field voles suggests root voles as the reservoir host of this novel virus. Future investigations should evaluate host association of TRAV, TATV, Kielder virus and the novel Rusne virus and their evolutionary relationships.
Language
  • English
Open access status
hybrid
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/46813
Statistics
Document views: 15 File downloads: