Prevalence of Hantaviruses Harbored by Murid Rodents in Northwestern Ukraine and Discovery of a Novel Puumala Virus Strain

• Published in: Viruses 2021-08, Vol.13 (8), p.1640
• Main Authors: Williams, Evan P, Taylor, Mariah K, Demchyshyna, Iryna, Nebogatkin, Igor, Nesterova, Olena, Khuda, Iryna, Chernenko, Lyudmyla, Hluzd, Oleksandra A, Kutseva, Vira V, Glass, Gregory E, Yanko, Nataliia, Jonsson, Colleen B
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amino acids; Animals; Antibodies; Antibodies, Viral - blood; Bayesian analysis; Disease Reservoirs - classification; Disease Reservoirs - veterinary; Disease Reservoirs - virology; field survey; Genomes; Hantavirus - classification; Hantavirus - genetics; Hantavirus - isolation & purification; Hantavirus Infections - epidemiology; Hantavirus Infections - transmission; Hantavirus Infections - virology; Hemorrhage; Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome; Humans; Immunofluorescence; Mice; Next-generation sequencing; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; Polymerase chain reaction; Prevalence; Puumala orthohantavirus; Puumala virus - classification; Puumala virus - genetics; Puumala virus - isolation & purification; Rodentia - blood; Rodentia - classification; Rodentia - virology; Rural populations; Small mammals; Species; Ukraine; Ukraine - epidemiology
• ISSN: 1999-4915; 1999-4915
• DOI: 10.3390/v13081640

In Europe, two species of hantaviruses, (PUUV) and (DOBV), cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in humans. The rodent reservoirs for these viruses are common throughout Ukraine, and hence, the goal of this study was to identify the species and strains of hantaviruses circulating in this region. We conducted surveillance of small rodent populations in a rural region in northwestern Ukraine approximately 30 km from Poland. From the 424 small mammals captured, we identified nine species, of which the most abundant were , the bank vole (45%); , the yellow-necked mouse (29%); and , the striped field mouse (14.6%) Using an indirect immunofluorescence assay, 15.7%, 20.5%, and 33.9% of the sera from , , and were positive for hantaviral antibodies, respectively. Additionally, we detected antibodies to the hantaviral antigen in one , one , and one . We screened the lung tissue for hantaviral RNA using next-generation sequencing and identified PUUV sequences in 25 small mammals, including 23 , 1 , and 1 but we were unable to detect DOBV sequences in any of our specimens. The percent identity matrix and Bayesian phylogenetic analyses of the S-segment of PUUV from 14 lungs suggest the highest similarity (92-95% nucleotide or 99-100% amino acid) with the Latvian lineage. This new genetic information will contribute to future molecular surveillance of human cases in Ukraine.