[Study on the molecular epidemiology of hantavirus carried by rodent hosts in Cixi, Zhejiang province].
OBJECTIVE
To collect more data on the epidemiology of hantavirus in rodents in Cixi, Zhejiang province.


METHODS
Rodents were captured in Cixi, where hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) appeared endemic. Hantavirus antigens in the rat lungs were detected by immunofluorescence assay. Partial S segment sequences were amplified by reverse transciption-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and then sequenced. The phyologenetic trees were constructed by maximum likelihood method to detect the genetic characteristics of hantavirus.


RESULTS
A total of 243 rodents were trapped in the epidemic areas, and hantavirus antigens were identified in 7 out of these lung samples (2.88%). Partial S segment sequences (620-999 nt) were recovered from 6 samples and sequenced. Data from phylogenetic analysis of these S segment sequences indicated that all viruses belonged to Seoul virus (SEOV), despite the origins of sources were either from Rattus norvegicus or from R. flabipectus. These viruses could further be divided into two distinct lineages but the viruses carried by R. norvegicus were different from those carried by R. flabipectus.


CONCLUSIONS
Two distinct lineages of SEOV had been cocirculating in rodents in Cixi.
Cixi Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Cixi 315300, China.
Fei-Neng
FN
Fan
Peng-Fei
PF
Yang
Nan-Feng
NF
Shi
Na
N
Gao
Guo-Hua
GH
Chen
Ming-Hui
MH
Li
Yang
Y
Zou
Xiao-Zhao
XZ
Deng
Yong-Zhen
YZ
Zhang
D000818:Animals; D006476:Orthohantavirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology / Q000379:methods*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012377:Rodentia / Q000821:virology*
D012367:RNA, Viral