Rodent-Borne Hantaviruses in Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Thailand

Abstract

In order to evaluate the circulation of hantaviruses present in southeast Asia, a large scale survey of small mammal species was carried out at seven main sites in the region (Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, and Thailand). Small scale opportunistic trapping was also performed at an eighth site (Cambodia). Using a standard IFA test, IgG antibodies reacting to Hantaan virus antigens were detected at six sites. Antibody prevalence at each site varied from 0 to 5.6% with antibodies detected in several rodent species (Bandicota indica, B. savilei, Maxomys surifer, Mus caroli, M. cookii, Rattus exulans, R. nitidius, R. norvegicus, and R. tanezumi). When site seroprevalence was compared with site species richness, seropositive animals were found more frequently at sites with lower species richness. In order to confirm which hantavirus species were present, a subset of samples was also subjected to RT-PCR. Hantaviral RNA was detected at a single site from each country. Sequencing confirmed the presence of two hantavirus species, Thailand and Seoul viruses, including one sample (from Lao PDR) representing a highly divergent strain of Seoul virus. This is the first molecular evidence of hantavirus in Lao PDR and the first reported L segment sequence data for Thailand virus.

Anjozorobe Hantavirus, a New Genetic Variant of Thailand Virus Detected in Rodents from Madagascar

“…This phylogenetic analysis was also performed with a reduction of the S CDS dataset to 519 nucleotides (positions 364-882). This allowed the inclusion of the sequences of Cambodian strains close to THAIV, and of other THAIV sequences (Reynes et al 2003, Hugot et al 2006, Blasdell et al 2011. Although the tree topology changed slightly and the statistical support was lower, all sequences grouped together (Fig.…”

Hantavirus infection: a global zoonotic challenge

“…Phylogenetic analysis shows that at least nine clades of HTNV and five clades of SEOV are prevalent in China Zou et al, 2016), including the Xinyi and Fugong viruses that have been recently reported in specific epidemic foci (Ge et al, 2016;Gu et al, 2016). Rodent-borne hantaviruses have also been detected in Lao PDR, Thailand (Thailand hantavirus, THAIV) and Cambodia (THAIV-like virus) (Blasdell et al, 2011;Pattamadilok et al, 2006). Among those viruses, THAIV can cause disease in humans (Pattamadilok et al, 2006;Gamage et al, 2011).…”

Epidemiology of Hantavirus Infection in Thousand Islands Regency of Jakarta, Indonesia

“…Hantavirus-infected rodents have been reported in Southeast Asian countries including Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Singapore [2,9,12,18,21]. Antibody positivity among humans has also been reported in Asian countries including India, Sri Lanka and Vietnam [3,5,7].…”