title: [Detection of a new natural virus focus Dobrava in the Astrakhan Region].
abstract: A natural focus of Dobrava hantavirus was first revealed in an arid zone of the Astrakhan Region, by using molecular genetic methods. A polymerase chain reaction was employed to examine 389 lung tissue suspension samples taken from 9 species. Hantavirus RNA was found in 35 samples from 22 field mice (Apodemus agrarius), 8 tamarisk gerbils (Meriones temariscinus), 4 common voles (Microtus arvalis), and 1 house mouse (Mus musculus). Sequencing determined the taxonomic affiliation of 18 new isolates to the Dobrava species and 1 isolate to the Puumala species although the new Dobrava isolated greatly differed from all known strains of this virus in the nucleotide sequence of the genomic M and S segments. Hantavirus-infected rodents were found in 3 of 4 districts of the Astrakhan Region, located in the steppe and semidesert zones and at the intrazonal stations of the Volga-Akhtuba flood-lands. The high (up to 12%) hantavirus infection rates were ascertained in a tamarisk gerbil, the typical inhabitant of desert and semidesert ecosystems.
authors.forename: V I
authors.initials: VI
authors.lastname: Zhuravlev
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Garanina
authors.forename: V V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Kabin
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Shipulin
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Platonov
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000821:virology*; D017753:Ecosystem; D016679:Genome, Viral; D006476:Orthohantavirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018778:Hantavirus Infections / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000821:virology; D051379:Mice; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D029262:Puumala virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012377:Rodentia / Q000145:classification / Q000821:virology*; D012426:Russia / Q000453:epidemiology