Seoul Orthohantavirus in Wild Black Rats, Senegal, 2012-2013

Abstract

Hantaviruses cause hemorrhagic fever in humans worldwide. However, few hantavirus surveillance campaigns occur in Africa. We detected Seoul orthohantavirus in black rats in Senegal, although we did not find serologic evidence of this disease in humans. These findings highlight the need for increased surveillance of hantaviruses in this region.

Keywords: Hantavirus; Rattus rattus; Senegal; Seoul orthohantavirus; black rats; rodents; viruses; zoonoses.

Figure 1

Phylogenetic analysis of Seoul orthohantavirus strains from black rats (Rattus rattus [family Murinae]; boldface) and reference sequences, Senegal, 2012–2013. Phylogenetic trees were generated by the maximum-likelihood method using the transition plus invariate sites plus gamma 4 model of the small segment (266 nt) (A) and the large segment (347 nt) (B). The numbers at each node are bootstrap probabilities (>90%) as determined for 1,000 iterations. GenBank numbers are indicated for reference sequences. Scale bars indicate 0.01 substitutions per nucleotide (A) and 0.1 substitutions per nucleotide (B).

Figure 2

Locations of trapping sites (circles) used in study of rodentborne Seoul orthohantavirus in Senegal, 2012–2013. Black circles indicate trapping locations of Seoul orthohantavirus–infected black rats (Rattus rattus [family Murinae]). Inset shows location of Senegal in Africa. Map created using the package maptools installed in R studio version 1.2.1335 (https://rstudio.com/products/rstudio/) and shapefiles downloaded from the free domain of the Geographic Information System (http://www.diva-gis.org).