Dobrava-Belgrade Virus inApodemus flavicollisandA. uralensisMice, Turkey

I Mehmet Ali Oktem,Rainer G Ulrich,Bekir Celebi,Mustafa Ertek,Ferhat Matur,Ender Dincer,Yavuz Uyar,Aysegul Gozalan,Aykut Ozkul,Mustafa Sozen,Cahit Babur,Mathias Schlegel,Ahmet Karatas,Gulay Korukluoglu,Nuri Kaan Ozkazanc

doi:10.3201/eid2001.121024

Abstract

In 2009, human Dobrava-Belgrade virus (DOBV) infections were reported on the Black Sea coast of Turkey. Serologic and molecular studies of potential rodent reservoirs demonstrated DOBV infections in Apodemus flavicollis and A. uralensis mice. Phylogenetic analysis of DOBV strains showed their similarity to A. flavicollis mice–borne DOBV in Greece, Slovenia, and Slovakia.

Highlights

The genus Hantavirus, family Bunyaviridae, contains human pathogenic viruses that cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome [1]
Human infections with members of the A. flavicollis–associated Dobrava-Belgrade virus (DOBV) lineage have been described in Slovenia, Greece, Serbia, Montenegro, the Czech Republic, and Hungary [2]
The frequent detection of DOBVspecific nucleic acid in A. uralensis mice may indicate that this rodent species functions as a reservoir

Summary

Introduction

The genus Hantavirus, family Bunyaviridae, contains human pathogenic viruses that cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome [1]. The association of DOBV with these different Apodemus species seems to determine its human pathogenicity, with the A. flavicollis–associated genotype Dobrava being the most life threatening [1]. The reservoir host(s) and virus strain(s) causing human infections on the Black Sea coast of Turkey remained unknown.

Results

Conclusion