Isolation and characterization of a novel arenavirus harbored by Rodents and Shrews in Zhejiang province, China
- State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Department of Zoonoses, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Changping, Beijing (China)
- Wenzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province (China)
- Wencheng Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province (China)
To determine the biodiversity of arenaviruses in China, we captured and screened rodents and shrews in Wenzhou city, Zhejiang province, a locality where hemorrhagic fever diseases are endemic in humans. Accordingly, arenaviruses were detected in 42 of 351 rodents from eight species, and in 12 of 272 Asian house shrews (Suncus murinus), by RT-PCR targeting the L segment. From these, a single arenavirus was successfully isolated in cell culture. The virion particles exhibited a typical arenavirus morphology under transmission electron microscopy. Comparison of the S and L segment sequences revealed high levels of nucleotide (>32.2% and >39.6%) and amino acid (>28.8% and >43.8%) sequence differences from known arenaviruses, suggesting that it represents a novel arenavirus, which we designated Wenzhou virus (WENV). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that all WENV strains harbored by both rodents and Asian house shrews formed a distinct lineage most closely related to Old World arenaviruses. - Highlights: • A novel arenavirus (Wenzhou virus) was identified in Zhejiang province, China. • The virus is highly circulating in five species of rats and one species of shrews • More efforts are needed to infer whether it is pathogenic to humans or not.
- OSTI ID:
- 22470148
- Journal Information:
- Virology, Vol. 476; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2014 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0042-6822
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Structural basis for receptor recognition by New World hemorrhagic fever arenaviruses
Inhibition of mouse peritoneal macrophage DNA synthesis by infection with the Arenavirus Pichinde. Interim report