Schneider, Julia and Hoffmann, Bernd and Fevola, Cristina and Schmidt, Marie Luisa and Imholt, Christian and Fischer, Stefan and Ecke, Frauke and Hörnfeldt, Birger and Magnusson, Magnus and Olsson, Gert and Rizzoli, Annapaola and Tagliapietra, Valentina and Chiari, Mario and Reusken, Chantal and Buzan, Elena and Kazimirova, Maria and Stanko, Michal and White, Thomas A. and Reil, Daniela and Obiegala, Anna and Meredith, Anna and Drexler, Jan Felix and Essbauer, Sandra and Henttonen, Heikki and Jacob, Jens and Hauffe, Heidi C. and Beer, Martin and Heckel, Gerald and Ulrich, Rainer G.
(2021).
Geographical Distribution and Genetic Diversity of Bank Vole Hepaciviruses in Europe.
Viruses. 13
, 1258
[Research article]
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Abstract
The development of new diagnostic methods resulted in the discovery of novel hepaciviruses in wild populations of the bank vole (Myodes glareolus, syn. Clethrionomys glareolus). The naturally infected voles demonstrate signs of hepatitis similar to those induced by hepatitis C virus (HCV) in humans. The aim of the present research was to investigate the geographical distribution of bank vole-associated hepaciviruses (BvHVs) and their genetic diversity in Europe. Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) screening revealed BvHV RNA in 442 out of 1838 (24.0%) bank voles from nine European countries and in one of seven northern red-backed voles (Myodes rutilus, syn. Clethrionomys rutilus). BvHV RNA was not found in any other small mammal species (n = 23) tested here. Phylogenetic and isolation-by-distance analyses confirmed the occurrence of both BvHV species (Hepacivirus F and Hepacivirus J) and their sympatric occurrence at several trapping sites in two countries. The broad geographical distribution of BvHVs across Europe was associated with their presence in bank voles of different evolutionary lineages. The extensive geographical distribution and high levels of genetic diversity of BvHVs, as well as the high population fluctuations of bank voles and occasional commensalism in some parts of Europe warrant future studies on the zoonotic potential of BvHVs.
Authors/Creators: | Schneider, Julia and Hoffmann, Bernd and Fevola, Cristina and Schmidt, Marie Luisa and Imholt, Christian and Fischer, Stefan and Ecke, Frauke and Hörnfeldt, Birger and Magnusson, Magnus and Olsson, Gert and Rizzoli, Annapaola and Tagliapietra, Valentina and Chiari, Mario and Reusken, Chantal and Buzan, Elena and Kazimirova, Maria and Stanko, Michal and White, Thomas A. and Reil, Daniela and Obiegala, Anna and Meredith, Anna and Drexler, Jan Felix and Essbauer, Sandra and Henttonen, Heikki and Jacob, Jens and Hauffe, Heidi C. and Beer, Martin and Heckel, Gerald and Ulrich, Rainer G. | ||||||
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Title: | Geographical Distribution and Genetic Diversity of Bank Vole Hepaciviruses in Europe | ||||||
Series Name/Journal: | Viruses | ||||||
Year of publishing : | 2021 | ||||||
Volume: | 13 | ||||||
Article number: | 1258 | ||||||
Number of Pages: | 14 | ||||||
Publisher: | MDPI | ||||||
ISSN: | 1999-4915 | ||||||
Language: | English | ||||||
Publication Type: | Research article | ||||||
Article category: | Scientific peer reviewed | ||||||
Version: | Published version | ||||||
Copyright: | Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 | ||||||
Full Text Status: | Public | ||||||
Subjects: | (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 1 Natural sciences > 106 Biological Sciences (Medical to be 3 and Agricultural to be 4) > Microbiology (Microbiology in the medical area to be 30109) (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 1 Natural sciences > 106 Biological Sciences (Medical to be 3 and Agricultural to be 4) > Evolutionary Biology | ||||||
Keywords: | bank vole hepaciviruses, HCV, Hepacivirus F, Hepacivirus J, rodent-borne pathogen, Europe, emerging virus | ||||||
URN:NBN: | urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-p-113242 | ||||||
Permanent URL: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-p-113242 | ||||||
Additional ID: |
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ID Code: | 25127 | ||||||
Faculty: | S - Faculty of Forest Sciences | ||||||
Department: | (S) > Dept. of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies | ||||||
Deposited By: | SLUpub Connector | ||||||
Deposited On: | 31 Aug 2021 10:25 | ||||||
Metadata Last Modified: | 31 Aug 2021 10:31 |
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