Prevalence of Orthohantavirus-Reactive Antibodies in Humans and Peri-Domestic Rodents in Northern Ethiopia.

Yonas Meheretu,Hagos Abreha,Olivia Wesula Lwande,Josef Bryja,Hussein Khalil,Frauke Ecke,Mengistu Mitiku,Herwig Leirs,Magnus Evander,Joëlle Goüy De Bellocq,Gebregiorgis Berhane,Åsa Granberg,Kiros Welegerima

doi:10.3390/v13061054

Abstract

In 2012, Tigray orthohantavirus was discovered in Ethiopia, but its seasonal infection in small mammals, and whether it poses a risk to humans was unknown. The occurrence of small mammals, rodents and shrews, in human inhabitations in northern Ethiopia is affected by season and presence of stone bunds. We sampled small mammals in two seasons from low- and high-density stone bund fields adjacent to houses and community-protected semi-natural habitats in Atsbi and Hagere Selam, where Tigray orthohantavirus was first discovered. We collected blood samples from both small mammals and residents using filter paper. The presence of orthohantavirus-reactive antibodies in blood was then analyzed using immunofluorescence assay (human samples) and enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (small mammal samples) with Puumala orthohantavirus as antigen. Viral RNA was detected by RT-PCR using small mammal blood samples. Total orthohantavirus prevalence (antibodies or virus RNA) in the small mammals was 3.37%. The positive animals were three Stenocephalemys albipes rats (prevalence in this species = 13.04%). The low prevalence made it impossible to determine whether season and stone bunds were associated with orthohantavirus prevalence in the small mammals. In humans, we report the first detection of orthohantavirus-reactive IgG antibodies in Ethiopia (seroprevalence = 5.26%). S. albipes lives in close proximity to humans, likely increasing the risk of zoonotic transmission.

Highlights

Orthohantaviruses are RNA viruses that cause severe zoonotic diseases in humans, and several new species of ortho, mobat- and loanhantaviruses have been discovered during the last decades
In Atsbi, the African grass rat (Arvicanthis niloticus, formerly A. dembeensis [25]) was the most abundant species (n = 25; 44.6%)
This study was the first attempt to examine orthohantavirus-reactive antibodies in humans and small mammals in Ethiopia and, despite the limited sample size, we report, for the first time, the detection of orthohantavirus-reactive IgG antibodies in six humans and two rats in the country

Summary

Introduction

Orthohantaviruses (family Hantaviridae, genus Orthohantavirus) are RNA viruses that cause severe zoonotic diseases in humans, and several new species of ortho-, mobat- and loanhantaviruses have been discovered during the last decades. Recent studies refute this transatlantic dichotomy between HFRS and HCPS and reveal substantial clinical overlaps between the two diseases [2,3,4]. In Africa, serological evidence for orthohantavirus infections in rodents and humans have since the 1980s been reported in more than a dozen countries see for more [4]. Most recent serological studies have found antibodies against orthohantaviruses in West Africa (Guinea) [8,9], South Africa [10] and East Africa (Tanzania) [11]. Orthohantaviruses have not been confirmed to cause disease in humans in sub-Saharan Africa, but one likely case has been reported in the same area where the Sangassou virus was detected [8]

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