Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
Huadong Research Institute for Medicine and Biotechnics, Nanjing, China.
PLoS One. 2022 Mar 3;17(3):e0264859. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264859. eCollection 2022.
Hantaviruses (HVs) are major zoonotic pathogens in China that cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) posing a major threat to people's health. Hainan Province, an island located in Southeast China, is an ideal region for sea ports. The unique tropical monsoon climate in Hainan provides sufficient living conditions for rodents, which help spread HVs and other rodent-borne diseases. In the routine monitoring of hantavirus, there was no evidence that rodents in Hainan carried hantavirus. No patients infected with hantavirus were found in the past. However, the surveillance of HVs-carrying rodents covering the whole territory of Hainan has not stopped.
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: For the monitoring of the prevalence of HVs in rodents and the search for theoretical reference for rodent control and HFRS prevention, a total of 60 rodents from 6 monitoring spots were trapped around main ports in Hainan between 2016 and 2019. HV positive samples were identified by a specific kit and sequenced. The data indicated that seven rodents (Rattus norvegicus) were positive for hantavirus with a positivity rate of 11.67%. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that the two complete sequence strains HN1 and HN4 in this research were highly similar to the sequence strains GZRn36 and GZRn148 isolated in Guangdong Province, and they located in the same phylogenetic tree branch which belongs to S2 subtype. Although the two partial sequences HT1 and HT2 isolated in Xisha Islands belong to S2 subtype according to the phylogenetic tree of L segment, they showed a great nucleotide difference with HN1 and HN4. We also found 13 amino acid variations compared with SEOV 80-39 and 6 amino acid mutations related to epitope, and the variations may reduce the effectiveness of the current HFRS vaccines used in humans.
CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The study indicated HVs carried by rodents found in Hainan Province may be transmitted from Guangdong Province through trading ports and carriage of goods by sea. So it is of great significance to strengthen the surveillance of rodents in port areas especially capture and eliminate rodents on ship. Timely elimination of host animals of hantavirus in port areas is necessary to prevent an outbreak of HVs disease.
汉坦病毒（HV）是中国主要的人畜共患病病原体，引起肾综合征出血热（HFRS），对人民健康构成重大威胁。海南省位于中国东南部，是一个理想的海港地区。海南独特的热带季风气候为啮齿动物提供了充足的生存条件，这有助于传播 HV 和其他啮齿动物传播的疾病。在汉坦病毒的常规监测中，没有证据表明海南的啮齿动物携带汉坦病毒。过去也没有发现感染汉坦病毒的患者。然而，对整个海南地区携带 HV 的啮齿动物的监测并未停止。
方法/主要发现：为了监测海南啮齿动物中 HV 的流行情况，为鼠类控制和 HFRS 预防提供理论参考，本研究于 2016 年至 2019 年在海南主要港口周围的 6 个监测点共捕获 60 只啮齿动物。使用特定试剂盒和测序鉴定 HV 阳性样本。数据表明，7 只（挪威鼠）啮齿动物的汉坦病毒检测呈阳性，阳性率为 11.67%。系统进化分析表明，本研究中分离的两个全长序列 HN1 和 HN4 与广东分离的 GZRn36 和 GZRn148 序列株高度相似，位于同一进化树分支，属于 S2 亚型。虽然西沙群岛分离的两个部分序列 HT1 和 HT2 根据 L 节的系统进化树属于 S2 亚型，但它们与 HN1 和 HN4 存在较大的核苷酸差异。与 SEOV 80-39 相比，我们还发现了 13 个氨基酸变异和 6 个与表位相关的氨基酸突变，这些变异可能会降低目前人类使用的 HFRS 疫苗的有效性。
结论/意义：本研究表明，在海南省发现的啮齿动物携带的 HV 可能是通过贸易港口从广东省传播而来，通过海上货物运输。因此，加强港口地区啮齿动物的监测，特别是对船舶上啮齿动物的捕捉和清除，具有重要意义。及时消除港口地区汉坦病毒的宿主动物，是预防 HV 疾病爆发的必要措施。
