[An epidemiologle investigation of hantaviruses carried by rodent hosts in Hunan province].
OBJECTIVE
To explore the hantavirus infection and their genotype in rodents in Hunan.


METHODS
Hantavirus antigens in the rat lungs from Hunan province were detected by immunofluorescence assay. Partial S and M segment in antigen-positive samples were amplified by RT-PCR, and then sequenced. The phyologenetic trees were constructed for the analysis of genetic characters of hantavirus.


RESULTS
A total of 344 rats were trapped in the main epidemic area of Hunan province, and hantavirus antigens were found in 6 of the 344 rats( 1.74% ).The phylogenetic trees constructed by partial S segment( nt 620-990) or partial G2 segment (nt 2001- 2301) showed that the hantaviruses carried by Rattus norvegicus, R . flabipectus and R. rattoides from Xiangxiang district were genetic subtype SEOV4. The virus carried by R. norvegicus in Ningyuan district was phylogenetically different from the known SEOV. The hantavirus carried by Mus musculus from Shimen district was genetic subtype HTNV4.


CONCLUSIONS
The hantaviruses in the main epidemic areas in Hunan province mainly belonged to SEOV, and R. flabipectus and R. rattoides carried the same genotype of SEOV as R. norvegicus.
Zhang
Yong-zhen
YZ
National Institute of Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Diseases Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China. yongzhenzhang@sohu.com
Xiao
Qi-you
QY
Li
Ming-hui
MH
Zou
Yang
Y
Lv
Wei
W
Dai
De-fang
DF
Chen
Hua-xin
HX
D000818:Animals; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000821:virology*; D006476:Orthohantavirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018778:Hantavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D051381:Rats; D012377:Rodentia / Q000821:virology*