Discovery of hantavirus circulating among Rattus rattus in French Mayotte island, Indian Ocean

Abstract

Hantaviruses are emerging zoonotic viruses that cause human diseases. In this study, sera from 642 mammals from La Réunion and Mayotte islands (Indian Ocean) were screened for the presence of hantaviruses by molecular analysis. None of the mammals from La Réunion island was positive, but hantavirus genomic RNA was discovered in 29/160 (18 %) Rattus rattus from Mayotte island. The nucleoprotein coding region was sequenced from the liver and spleen of all positive individuals allowing epidemiological and intra-strain variability analyses. Phylogenetic analysis based on complete coding genomic sequences showed that this Murinae-associated hantavirus is a new variant of Thailand virus. Further studies are needed to investigate hantaviruses in rodent hosts and in Haemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome (HFRS) human cases.

Fig. 1.

Hantavirus prevalence and phylogeography in Rattus rattus from Mayotte island. Prevalence and intra-strain variability of MAYOV hantavirus according to localization of the captured R. rattus. Phylogenetic analysis was done using partial S segment sequences (nt 13–1017). Anjozorobe virus, previously detected in Madagascar (GenBank accession no. KC490916) was used as an outgroup. Bar, mean number of nucleotide substitutions per site. Colour codes correspond between the map and the tree.

Fig. 2.

Phylogenetic analysis of Murinae-associated hantaviruses including MAYOV. Phylogenetic analysis was performed for the S (a) and M (b) segments among the Murinae-associated hantaviruses. MAYOV sequences were obtained by next-generation sequencing (S, 142 reads; M, 306 reads) and Sanger sequencing. The sequences used for phylogenetic analysis were obtained from GenBank: Sangassou virus (SANGV) (N: JQ082303, JQ082300; Gc-Gn: JQ082301); Dobrava virus (DOBV)/Saarema virus (SAAV) (N: AJ269550, AJ009773, AJ616854, L41916, AJ410619, NC005233; Gc-Gn: AY168578, AJ009774, L33685, AY168577); Amur/Soochong virus (ASV) (N: AB127997, AY675349, AY675350; Gc-Gn: AB127994, AY675353, DQ056293); Hantaan virus (HTNV) (N: AF329390, AF366568, JN712306, EU363809, EU092221; Gc-Gn: AF035831, AF366569, EU363818, EU092225); Gou virus (GOUV) (N: AF184988; Gc-Gn: AF145977); Seoul virus (SEOV) (N: JQ665919, AF187082, FJ803202, FJ803207, GQ279380, FJ803215; Gc-Gn: JQ665895, AF187081, GU592931, GQ274942, KF387724); Thailand virus (THAIV) (N: AM397664, AB186420; Gc-Gn: L08756); Serang virus (SERV) (N: AM998808, GQ274941; Gc-Gn: GQ274939); Anjozorobe (N: KC490914-KC490918; Gc-Gn: KC490919-KC490921). The Kazan strain of Puumala virus (Z84204, Z84205) was used as an outgroup for both trees. Bars, mean number of nucleotide substitutions per site.