Bear Canyon virus: an arenavirus naturally associated with the California mouse (Peromyscus californicus)

Abstract

Thirty-four rodents captured in southern California were studied to increase our knowledge of the arenaviruses indigenous to the western United States. An infectious arenavirus was isolated from 5 of 27 California mice but none of the 7 other rodents. Analyses of viral nucleocapsid protein gene sequence data indicated that the isolates from the California mice are strains of a novel Tacaribe serocomplex virus (proposed name "Bear Canyon") that is phylogenetically most closely related to Whitewater Arroyo and Tamiami viruses, the only other Tacaribe serocomplex viruses known to occur in North America. The discovery of Bear Canyon virus is the first unequivocal evidence that the virus family Arenaviridae is naturally associated with the rodent genus Peromyscus and that a Tacaribe serocomplex virus occurs in California.

Figure

Phylogenetic relationships among Bear Canyon virus (BCNV) prototype strain A0070039, 4 other BCNV isolates from California mice (Peromyscus californicus), Whitewater Arroyo virus (WWAV), Tamiami virus (TAMV), and 15 other arenaviruses, based on a maximum likelihood analysis of a fragment of the nucleocapsid protein gene. The string of characters following “BCNV” or “WWAV” denotes the virus strain. LCMV, lymphocytic choriomeningitis; Pcal, Peromyscus californicus; Nalb, Neotoma albigula; Ncin, N. cinerea; Nmex, N. mexicana; Nmic, N. micropus; Shis, Sigmodon hispidus; NM, New Mexico; UT, Utah; OK, Oklahoma; TX, Texas; FL, Florida.