Abstract
Recent identification of a newfound hantavirus, designated Seewis virus (SWSV), in the Eurasian common shrew (Sorex araneus), captured in Switzerland, corroborates decades-old reports of hantaviral antigens in this shrew species from Russia. To ascertain the spatial or geographic variation of SWSV, archival liver tissues from 88 Eurasian common shrews, trapped in Finland in 1982 and in Hungary during 1997, 1999 and 2000, were analyzed for hantavirus RNAs by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. SWSV RNAs were detected in 12 of 22 (54.5%) and 13 of 66 (19.7%) Eurasian common shrews from Finland and Hungary, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses of S- and L-segment sequences of SWSV strains, using maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods, revealed geographic-specific genetic variation, similar to the phylogeography of rodent-borne hantaviruses, suggesting long-standing hantavirus-host co-evolutionary adaptation.
Highlights
Previous analysis of the full-length S and partial M and L segments of a newfound hantavirus, designated Seewis virus (SWSV), detected in the Eurasian common shrew (Sorex araneus), captured in the Swiss canton of Graubünden [13], corroborates earlier reports of hantavi
A paradigm-altering chapter in hantavirology is unfolding with the discovery of genetically distinct hantaviruses in multiple species of shrews (Order Soricomorpha, Family Soricidae), including the northern short-tailed shrew (Blarina brevicauda) [1], Chinese mole shrew (Anourosorex squamipes) [2], masked shrew (Sorex cinereus) [3], dusky shrew (Sorex monticolus) [3], Therese's shrew (Crocidura theresae) [4] and Ussuri white-toothed shrew (Crocidura lasiura) [5]
Whole-genome analysis of Thottapalayam virus (TPMV), a hantavirus isolated from the Asian house shrew (Suncus murinus) [6,7], demonstrates a separate phylogenetic clade, consistent with an early evolutionary divergence from rodent-borne hantaviruses [8,9]
Summary
Previous analysis of the full-length S and partial M and L segments of a newfound hantavirus, designated Seewis virus (SWSV), detected in the Eurasian common shrew (Sorex araneus), captured in the Swiss canton of Graubünden [13], corroborates earlier reports of hantavi. SWSV RNAs were detected by RT-PCR in 12 of 22 (54.5%) and 13 of 66 (19.7%) Eurasian common shrews from Finland and Hungary, respectively (Table 1).
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