Genetic characterization of seoul hantavirus originated from norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) captured in Belgium

Abstract

Hantaviruses (genus Hantavirus, family Bunyaviridae) cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in Eurasia and hantavirus (cardio)pulmonary syndrome (HCPS) in the Americas. So far, in Europe, four pathogenic hantaviruses have been found, often in co-circulation: Puumala virus (PUUV), Dobrava virus (DOBV), Saaremaa virus (SAAV), and Seoul virus (SEOV). Of those, only PUUV was found in Belgium. Recently, in our search for hantaviruses in the Flanders region of Belgium we collected genetic and serological evidence for the presence of SEOV virus in local brown rats. In this article, the results of (phylo)genetic analysis of wild-type SEOV strain from the Flanders are presented. The analysis based on the complete S segment sequence and also partial M- and L-segment sequences revealed that the Belgian SEOV strain was related most closely to strains from France, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Cambodia (those associated with the species Rattus norvegicus) and Vietnam. Such a clustering was in perfect agreement with the results of direct sequence comparison and suggested the same evolutionary history for all three genome segments of the Belgian SEOV strain (i.e., no reassortment of genome segments). So far, SEOV has been found in two European countries, France and Belgium, and there is every reason to believe that the area of the virus distribution in Europe is not restricted to those countries.

Global parasite and Rattus rodent invasions: The consequences for rodent‐borne diseases

“…Seoul hantavirus originated in Asian Rattini rodents followed by worldwide expansion by Norway rats within the last few centuries (Lin et al 2012;Plyusnina et al 2012). …”

Interaction between Hantavirus Nucleocapsid Protein (N) and RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase (RdRp) Mutants Reveals the Requirement of an N-RdRp Interaction for Viral RNA Synthesis

“…Humans get hantavirus infection by inhalation of aerosolized excreta from infected rodent hosts (1)(2)(3)(4). Hantavirus infection causes hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS), with mortalities of 15% and 50%, respectively (5,6).…”

Pet rat harbouring Seoul hantavirus in Sweden, June 2013

“…Further investigations will reveal the relationship of various SEOV strains in Europe, and how they are associated to pet rat and wild rat populations. So far, representatives of two genetic lineages of SEOV have been found in Europe: lineage number 9 (including strain Humber from the UK) and lineage number 7 (including the strain from Sweden reported here as well as strains from Belgium and most likely also strains from France, since Belgian and French strains are very close in their S and M segment sequences [10]). …”

“…Reverse transcription (RT)-nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed on the purified RNA of the pet rat as described before [10]. Partial sequence of the hantavirus L segment (nt 2,968 to 3,300) was targeted by the PCR.…”

“…Although rats are unaffected by the virus, SEOV causes a more severe form of HFRS in humans (mortality approximately 2%), and this has been observed mainly in Asia [6]. Outside of Asia, SEOV has been found, by molecular methods, in rats in the Americas [7] and in Europe (Belgium, France and the UK) [8][9][10][11]. During the winter 2012/13, human cases of severe HFRS caused by SEOV were reported in the UK and France [1,2,11].…”