Sin Nombre Virus as Unlikely Reverse Zoonotic Threat

Abstract

We inoculated clinical materials into deer mice to attempt isolation of Sin Nombre virus. We did not observe productive infection in the natural rodent reservoir. Genomic comparisons between rodent reservoirs and human disease may provide insight into hantavirus evolution and genetic determinants, but reverse zoonosis of Sin Nombre virus appears unlikely.

Keywords: Canada; Hantavirus; Sin Nombre virus; rodentborne pathogens; viruses; zoonoses; zoonotic disease.

Figure

Experimental infection of North American deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) with Sin Nombre virus (SNV) to determine whether direct inoculation with clinical material would enable isolation of virus without prior Vero propagation. Infection of humans or nonhuman primates with deer mouse–derived SNV causes HCPS. This study shows that SNV retrieved from HCPS cases or infected nonhuman primates does not generate a productive infection in deer mice. SNV can also infect the Vero cell line upon passaging and adaption, but it reduces its infectivity in deer mice compared with deer mouse–only passaged SNV. The figure was prepared using images from BioRender.com (https://www.biorender.com). HCPS, hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome.