Abstract
In a globalized world, the threat of emerging pathogens plays an increasing role, especially if their zoonotic potential is unknown. In this study, a novel respirovirus, family Paramyxoviridae, was isolated from a Sri Lankan Giant squirrel (Ratufa macroura), which originated in Sri Lanka and deceased with severe pneumonia in a German zoo. The full-genome characterization of this novel virus, tentatively named Giant squirrel respirovirus (GSqRV), revealed similarities to murine (71%), as well as human respiroviruses (68%) with unique features, for example, a different genome length and a putative additional accessory protein. Congruently, phylogenetic analyses showed a solitary position of GSqRV between known murine and human respiroviruses, implicating a putative zoonotic potential. A tailored real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) for specific detection of GSqRV confirmed a very high viral load in the lung, and, to a lesser extent, in the brain of the deceased animal. A pilot study on indigenous and exotic squirrels did not reveal additional cases in Germany. Therefore, further research is essential to assess the geographic distribution, host range, and zoonotic potential of this novel viral pathogen.
Highlights
Several novel paramyxoviruses have been discovered, which diversified the characteristics of the family Paramyxoviridae in terms of genomic structure, genome length, and encoded proteins [1]
To the best of our knowledge, no other squirrel-specific respiroviruses have been reported in Sequence alignment with subsequent phylogenetic analysis shows that Giant squirrel respirovirus (GSqRV) can be classified the literature or the sequence databases to date
We were able to detect and characterize a novel virus isolated from a deceased Sri Lankan
Summary
Several novel paramyxoviruses have been discovered, which diversified the characteristics of the family Paramyxoviridae in terms of genomic structure, genome length, and encoded proteins [1]. The human origin of “Sendai virus” was controversially discussed, raising the question as to whether MRV had potentially been circulating unnoticed in the laboratory mice population before the inoculation of the human-derived material This discussion had its basis in the independent detection of MRV in naturally infected mouse breeder colonies [10] and feral house mice [11,12], and was further supported by the fact that no further outbreaks of human disease have been reported since. MRV is able to cause severe respiratory disease with high mortality in immunocompetent adult mice, being transmitted between mice through direct contact or airborne transmission [13] Other laboratory rodents, such as rats, hamsters, and guinea pigs, can be infected, the infection is generally subclinical or mild. We present the characterization of the full-genome sequence, phylogeny, and a pilot monitoring study for the presence of GSqRV in squirrels in Germany
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