Journal
BMC INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Volume 19, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
BMC
DOI: 10.1186/s12879-019-4133-x
Keywords
Tula virus; Hantavirus; Voles; Microtus obscurus; Genetic evolution; China
Categories
Funding
- Natural Science Foundation of China [31860703]
- Project of State Key Laboratory of Pathogenesis, Prevention, and Treatment of High Incidence Diseases in Central Asia [SKL-HIDCA-2017-5]
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BackgroundHantaviruses are important zoonotic pathogens, and they pose a profound risk to public health. So far, there has been no evidence showing that Tula virus (TULV), one species of hantavirus, is endemic in China. In this study, we captured rodents and found that the Tula virus had infected voles in Yili region, Xinjiang, China.MethodsRodents were captured by flooding their burrows in mountain pasture areas in Narati, Xinyuan County, Xinjiang, China. Hantavirus L gene fragments were amplified by nest RT-PCR using genus-specific primers. Positive samples were further identified by sequencing of RT-PCR products of S gene fragment for species identification. To identify the species of captured small mammals, the rodents' cytochrome b (Cytb) was amplified by PCR and sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis was used to show the clustering and evolution relationship of the viral nucleic acids.ResultsHere, 31 out of 198 voles captured (16%) were infected with TULV. Host sequencing analysis showed these voles were Microtus obscurus (M. obscurs). Alignment and phylogenetic analysis of the exon region (1191bp) of the hantavirus S gene confirmed that all of the detected amplicons were TULV, which was similar to one strain of TULV identified in Kazakhstan.ConclusionThis is the first identification of Tula virus in China, and we found that M. obscurus acts as a natural reservoir for carrying the virus. Although the infection rate in the local human population remains unknown, the high prevalence of TULV in the small mammals in the region constitutes a risk that this putative pathogen may spread to the local population.
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