Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Medical School, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.
Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Medical School, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.
Infect Genet Evol. 2021 Sep;93:104942. doi: 10.1016/j.meegid.2021.104942. Epub 2021 May 25.
Rodents including rats are reservoir of several pathogens capable of affecting human health. In this study, faecal and different organ specimens from free-living Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) (N = 18) and faecal samples from laboratory rodents (rats N = 21 and mice N = 20) collected from different geographic areas in Hungary between 2017 and 2020 were investigated by viral metagenomics and conventional RT-PCR methods. The complete genome of three different RNA viruses, rat astrovirus, rat norovirus and rat hepevirus were characterized and analysed in detail. Rat norovirus was detected in faecal (17.6%, 3/17) and kidney (7.1%, 1/14) samples; rat astrovirus in faecal (23.5%, 4/17) and spleen (13.3%, 2/15) samples, and rat hepevirus in 43% to 67% the faecal, liver, kidney, lung, heart, muscle, brain and blood samples from Norway rats, respectively. Rat norovirus was also identifiable in 5% (1/21) of laboratory rats and rat astrovirus in 40% (8/20) of faecal samples from laboratory mice. Co-infections were found in 28% (5/18) wild Norway rats. The highest RNA viral load of astrovirus (1.81 × 10 copy/g) and norovirus (3.49 × 10 copy/g) were measured in faecal samples; while the highest RNA viral load of hepevirus (1.16 × 10 copy/g) was found in liver samples of Norway rats, respectively. This study confirms the wide geographic distribution and high prevalence of astrovirus, norovirus and hepevirus among wild rats in Hungary with confirmation of different organ involvement of as well as the detection of norovirus and astrovirus in laboratory rats and mice, respectively. This finding further strengthens the role of rodents in the spread of viral pathogens especially infecting human.
包括老鼠在内的啮齿动物是几种能够影响人类健康的病原体的宿主。在这项研究中，我们通过病毒宏基因组学和常规 RT-PCR 方法检测了 2017 年至 2020 年期间在匈牙利不同地理区域采集的自由生活的挪威鼠（Rattus norvegicus）（N=18）的粪便和不同器官标本以及实验室鼠（大鼠 N=21 和小鼠 N=20）的粪便样本。我们对三种不同的 RNA 病毒，即鼠星状病毒、鼠诺如病毒和鼠肝炎病毒的完整基因组进行了详细的特征分析和研究。在粪便（17.6%，3/17）和肾脏（7.1%，1/14）样本中检测到鼠诺如病毒；在粪便（23.5%，4/17）和脾脏（13.3%，2/15）样本中检测到鼠星状病毒，在 43%到 67%的挪威鼠粪便、肝脏、肾脏、肺、心脏、肌肉、大脑和血液样本中检测到鼠肝炎病毒。在 5%（1/21）的实验室大鼠和 40%（8/20）的实验室小鼠粪便样本中也可识别到鼠诺如病毒。在 28%（5/18）的野生挪威鼠中发现了混合感染。在粪便样本中检测到星状病毒（1.81×10 拷贝/g）和诺如病毒（3.49×10 拷贝/g）的 RNA 病毒载量最高；而在挪威鼠肝脏样本中检测到肝炎病毒 RNA 病毒载量最高（1.16×10 拷贝/g）。本研究证实了匈牙利野生鼠中星状病毒、诺如病毒和肝炎病毒的广泛地理分布和高流行率，证实了不同器官的感染，并分别在实验室大鼠和小鼠中检测到诺如病毒和星状病毒。这一发现进一步强调了啮齿动物在传播病毒病原体方面的作用，特别是感染人类的病毒病原体。
