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 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.
Infect Genet Evol. 2021 Jun;90:104520. doi: 10.1016/j.meegid.2020.104520. Epub 2020 Sep 3.
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.
汉坦病毒是一种人畜共患的病原体，可导致人类亚临床至致命感染。在欧洲，五种正粘病毒存在于啮齿动物中：与 Myodes 相关的 Puumala 正粘病毒（PUUV）、与 Microtus 相关的图尔拉正粘病毒、Traemmersee 汉坦病毒（TRAV）/Tatenale 汉坦病毒（TATV）/Kielder 汉坦病毒、鼠源性首尔正粘病毒和与 Apodemus 相关的多布拉瓦-贝尔格莱德正粘病毒（DOBV）。在立陶宛曾检测到人类感染 PUUV 和 DOBV，但与 Microtus 相关的汉坦病毒的存在尚不清楚。为了进行这项研究，我们对 234 只 Microtus 田鼠进行了筛查，包括根田鼠（Microtus oeconomus）、草原田鼠（Microtus agrestis）和普通田鼠（Microtus arvalis），以检测汉坦病毒感染。该初步筛查基于针对 S 片段的逆转录-聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）和血清学分析。在 79 只根田鼠中检测到一种新的汉坦病毒，根据捕获地点暂定命名为“Rusne 病毒”，并确定了完整的基因组序列。在三个基因组片段的编码区中，Rusne 病毒与 TRAV 和 TATV 具有很高的序列相似性，在部分 S 和 L 片段序列的系统进化分析中与 Kielder 汉坦病毒聚类。成对进化距离分析证实 Rusne 病毒是 TRAV/TATV 种的一个株系。此外，我们在酿酒酵母中合成了 Rusne 病毒的整个核衣壳（N）蛋白。我们观察到针对其他汉坦病毒（包括 PUUV）的抗体与这种新的 N 蛋白发生交叉反应。对 234 只田鼠的 ELISA 检测仅在 79 只根田鼠中的 4 只中检测到 Rusne 病毒反应性抗体，所有这些田鼠均为 RNA 阳性，但在其他田鼠物种中均未检测到。总之，在三年间同一诱捕点检测到多只根田鼠的 Rusne 病毒 RNA，而在同种的草原田鼠中未检测到，这表明根田鼠是这种新型病毒的储存宿主。未来的研究应评估 TRAV、TATV、Kielder 病毒和新型 Rusne 病毒的宿主关联性及其进化关系。
