Abstract
Rodents are important hosts of hantaviruses, and lungs and kidneys are known to be the preferred organs of these viruses. Recently, hantaviruses were detected in liver samples from wild rodents in Hungary and the United States, and feeder rats in the Netherlands. However, few studies have detected hantaviruses in the liver of rats from China. In this study, hantaviruses were investigated in liver samples from R. norvegicus and R. tanezumi trapped in urban areas of southern China. A total of 461 R. norvegicus and 64 R. tanezumi were trapped. Using a pan-hantavirus PCR method, hantaviruses were detected in liver, lung, and serum samples from these animals. About 7.43% of liver samples were positive for Seoul virus (SEOV). The detection rate of SEOV in liver samples from R. norvegicus (8.24%) was higher than that from R. tanezumi (1.56%), suggesting the predominant role of R. norvegicus in the transmission of SEOV in urban areas of China. Three R. norvegicus had SEOV RNA in their liver samples but not in their lung samples, suggesting that the liver might be one of the targeted organs of SEOV. The first full SEOV protein-coding sequences (CDS) of the S and M segments, and partial CDS of the L segment from R. tanezumi were amplified. Several full and partial CDS of the S, M, and L segments from R. norvegicus were also obtained. The SEOV sequences obtained from different animals were highly similar, suggesting the cross-species transmission potential of SEOV between R. norvegicus and R. tanezumi.
Highlights
Hantaviruses belong to the subfamily Mammantavirinae within the family hantaviridae [1]
Viral RNA and DNA were extracted from 525 liver tissue samples, while only 190 serum samples were sufficient for nucleic acid extraction
A total of 7.43% (39/525) of the liver tissue samples were positive for Seoul virus (SEOV), with the detection rates of 8.24% (38/461) and 1.56% (1/64) in R. norvegicus and R. tanezumi, respectively (χ2 = 3.647, P > 0.05; Table 1)
Summary
Hantaviruses belong to the subfamily Mammantavirinae within the family hantaviridae [1]. They are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses, with genomes composed of small (S), medium (M), and large (L) segments [2]. More than 50 hantavirus species have been recognized [3]. Some of these viruses are not pathogenic, such as the Prospect Hill virus [4], but at least 24 species of hantaviruses are able to cause human diseases [5].
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