Natural host relationships and genetic diversity of rodent-associated hantaviruses in southeastern Brazil.
OBJECTIVE
Hantaviruses are rodent-borne RNA viruses that have caused hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome in several Brazilian regions. In the present study, geographical distribution, seroprevalence, natural host range, and phylogenetic relations of rodent-associated hantaviruses collected from seven counties of Southeastern Brazil were evaluated.


METHODS
ELISA, RT-PCR and phylogenetic analysis were used in this study.


RESULTS
Antibodies to hantavirus were detected in Bolomys lasiurus, Akodon sp. and Oligoryzomys sp., performing an overall seroprevalence of 5.17%. All seropositive rodents were associated with grasslands or woods surrounded by sugar cane fields. Phylogenetic analysis of partial S- and M-segment sequences showed that viral sequences isolated from B. lasiurus specimens clustered with Araraquara virus. However, a sequence from Akodon sp. shared 100% similarity with Argentinian/Chilean viruses based on the partial S-segment amino acid sequence.


CONCLUSIONS
These results indicate that there are associations between rodent reservoirs and hantaviruses in some regions of Southeastern Brazil, and suggest the existence of additional hantavirus genetic diversity and host ecology in these areas.
de Sousa
Ricardo Luiz Moro
RL
Department of Basic Sciences, School of Zootechny and Food Engineering, University of São Paulo, Pirassununga, SP, Brazil. rlmoros@usp.br
Moreli
Marcos Lázaro
ML
Borges
Alessandra Abel
AA
Campos
Gelse Mazzoni
GM
Livonesi
Márcia Cristina
MC
Figueiredo
Luiz Tadeu Moraes
LT
Pinto
Aramis Augusto
AA
D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D001938:Brazil; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006476:Orthohantavirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D016205:Sigmodontinae / Q000821:virology*
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D012367:RNA, Viral