title: Divergent lineage of a novel hantavirus in the banana pipistrelle (Neoromicia nanus) in Côte d'Ivoire.
abstract: Recently identified hantaviruses harbored by shrews and moles (order Soricomorpha) suggest that other mammals having shared ancestry may serve as reservoirs. To investigate this possibility, archival tissues from 213 insectivorous bats (order Chiroptera) were analyzed for hantavirus RNA by RT-PCR. Following numerous failed attempts, hantavirus RNA was detected in ethanol-fixed liver tissue from two banana pipistrelles (Neoromicia nanus), captured near Mouyassué village in Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa, in June 2011. Phylogenetic analysis of partial L-segment sequences using maximum-likelihood and Bayesian methods revealed that the newfound hantavirus, designated Mouyassué virus (MOUV), was highly divergent and basal to all other rodent- and soricomorph-borne hantaviruses, except for Nova virus in the European common mole (Talpa europaea). Full genome sequencing of MOUV and further surveys of other bat species for hantaviruses, now underway, will provide critical insights into the evolution and diversification of hantaviruses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Tropical Medicine, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96813, USA.
authors.forename: Laarni
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sumibcay
authors.forename: Blaise
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kadjo
authors.forename: Se Hun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Hae Ji
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Burton K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Joseph A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: Jin-Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yanagihara
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000821:virology; D007560:Cote d'Ivoire; D006476:Orthohantavirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase