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Abstract
Eight hundred and thirteen European rodents and shrews encompassing seven different species were screened for alphacoronaviruses using PCR detection. Novel alphacoronaviruses were detected in the species Rattus norvegicus, Microtus agrestis, Sorex araneus and Myodes glareolus. These, together with the recently described Lucheng virus found in China, form a distinct rodent/shrew-specific clade within the coronavirus phylogeny. Across a highly conserved region of the viral polymerase gene, the new members of this clade were up to 22% dissimilar at the nucleotide level to the previously described Lucheng virus. As such they might represent distinct species of alphacoronaviruses. These data greatly extend our knowledge of wildlife reservoirs of alphacoronaviruses.
Highlights
Coronaviruses (CoVs) are important pathogens affecting both humans and animals
813 rodents shrewsin tested were found to be positive for CoVs
PCRs using in-house positives were found in Rattus norvegicus, three in Microtus agrestis, one in
Summary
Coronaviruses (CoVs) are important pathogens affecting both humans and animals. CoV discovery was made in the 1930s [1]. CoVs are associated with respiratory disease, ranging from mild upper respiratory tract symptoms, to those that are more severe and potentially fatal, associated with infection of the lower-respiratory tract. CoVs are known to infect mammals and birds, among which they have been associated with enteric and respiratory diseases as well as hepatitis and neurological disorders [2]. The recent emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in humans and porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDV) in pigs has highlighted the epizootic and zoonotic risk that these viruses pose (reviewed in [3,4]). It is very likely that there are novel unrecognized CoVs circulating in animals that pose a cross-species transmission risk
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