Center for International Health, University Hospital, Ludwig Maximilians University, 80336 Munich, Germany.
Aikimbayev's National Scientific Center for Especially Dangerous Infections, Almaty 050054, Kazakhstan.
Viruses. 2022 Jun 9;14(6):1258. doi: 10.3390/v14061258.
Orthohantaviruses are zoonotic pathogens that play a significant role in public health. These viruses can cause haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in Eurasia. In the Republic of Kazakhstan, the first human cases were registered in the year 2000 in the West Kazakhstan region. Small mammals can be reservoirs of orthohantaviruses. Previous studies showed orthohantavirus antigens in wild-living small mammals in four districts of West Kazakhstan. Clinical studies suggested that there might be further regions with human orthohantavirus infections in Kazakhstan, but genetic data of orthohantaviruses in natural foci are limited. The aim of this study was to investigate small mammals for the presence of orthohantaviruses by molecular biological methods and to provide a phylogenetic characterization of the circulating strains in Kazakhstan. Small mammals were trapped at 19 sites in West Kazakhstan, four in Almaty region and at seven sites around Almaty city during all seasons of 2018 and 2019. Lung tissues of small mammals were homogenized and RNA was extracted. Orthohantavirus RT-PCR assays were applied for detection of partial S and L segment sequences. Results were compared to published fragments. In total, 621 small mammals from 11 species were analysed. Among the collected small mammals, 2.4% tested positive for orthohantavirus RNA, one sample from West Kazakhstan and 14 samples from Almaty region. None of the rodents caught in Almaty city were infected. Sequencing parts of the small (S) and large (L) segments specified Tula virus (TULV) in these two regions. Our data show that geographical distribution of TULV is more extended as previously thought. The detected sequences were found to be split in two distinct genetic clusters of TULV in West Kazakhstan and Almaty region. TULV was detected in the common vole () and for the first time in two individuals of the forest dormouse (), interpreted as a spill-over infection in Kazakhstan.
正汉坦病毒是一种人畜共患病原体，在公共卫生方面发挥着重要作用。这些病毒可在欧亚大陆引起肾综合征出血热。在哈萨克斯坦共和国，2000 年在西哈萨克斯坦地区首次登记到人类病例。小型哺乳动物可能是正汉坦病毒的储存宿主。先前的研究表明，在西哈萨克斯坦的四个地区的野生小型哺乳动物中存在正汉坦病毒抗原。临床研究表明，哈萨克斯坦可能还有其他地区存在人类正汉坦病毒感染，但自然疫源地中正汉坦病毒的遗传数据有限。本研究旨在通过分子生物学方法调查小型哺乳动物中是否存在正汉坦病毒，并对哈萨克斯坦循环株进行系统发育特征分析。2018 年和 2019 年的所有季节，在西哈萨克斯坦的 19 个地点、阿拉木图地区的 4 个地点和阿拉木图市周围的 7 个地点捕获了小型哺乳动物。将小型哺乳动物的肺组织匀浆并提取 RNA。应用正汉坦病毒 RT-PCR 检测法检测部分 S 和 L 片段序列。结果与已发表的片段进行了比较。共分析了来自 11 种的 621 只小型哺乳动物。在所采集的小型哺乳动物中，有 2.4%的样本检测到正汉坦病毒 RNA 阳性，其中 1 份来自西哈萨克斯坦，14 份来自阿拉木图地区。在阿拉木图市捕获的啮齿动物均未感染。在这两个地区，对小（S）和大（L）片段的部分测序指定为图拉病毒（TULV）。我们的数据表明，TULV 的地理分布比以前认为的更为广泛。在西哈萨克斯坦和阿拉木图地区检测到的序列分为 TULV 的两个不同遗传簇。在普通田鼠（）和森林睡鼠（）中首次检测到 TULV，被解释为在哈萨克斯坦的溢出感染。
