A new Puumala hantavirus subtype in rodents associated with an outbreak of Nephropathia epidemica in South-East Germany in 2004.
A micro-epidemic of hantavirus infections occurred in Lower Bavaria, South-East Germany, starting in April 2004. While only three cases were registered from 2001 to 2003, a dramatically increased number of clinically apparent human hantavirus infections (n=38) was observed in 2004, plus seven additional cases by June 2005. To determine the reservoir responsible for the infections, a total of 43 rodents were trapped in Lower Bavaria. Serological and genetic investigations revealed that Puumala virus (PUUV) is dominant in the local population of bank voles. Partial PUUV S segment nucleotide sequences originating from bank voles at four different trapping sites in Lower Bavaria showed a low divergence (up to 3.1%). This is contrasted by a nucleotide sequence divergence of 14-16% to PUUV strains detected in Belgium, France, Slovakia or North-Western Germany. PUUV sequences from bank voles in Lower Bavaria represent a new PUUV subtype which seems to be responsible for the observed increase of human hantavirus infections in 2004-2005.
Essbauer
S
S
Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, Munich, Germany. SandraEssbauer@Bundeswehr.org
Schmidt
J
J
Conraths
F J
FJ
Friedrich
R
R
Koch
J
J
Hautmann
W
W
Pfeffer
M
M
Wölfel
R
R
Finke
J
J
Dobler
G
G
Ulrich
R
R
D000818:Animals; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006476:Orthohantavirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D018778:Hantavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D006480:Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D019590:Nucleocapsid Proteins / Q000032:analysis
D019590:Nucleocapsid Proteins