title: Anjozorobe hantavirus, a new genetic variant of Thailand virus detected in rodents from Madagascar.
abstract: Until now, there was only serological evidence that hantaviruses were circulating in rodents and infecting humans from Madagascar. To assess the presence of a hantavirus on the island, between October, 2008, and March, 2010, we sampled 585 rodents belonging to seven species in the Anjozorobe-Angavo forest corridor, 70 km north from the capital city Antananarivo. A hantavirus was detected from organs of the ubiquist roof rat (Rattus rattus) and of the endemic Major's tufted-tailed rat (Eliurus majori). Amazingly, sequence analysis of the S (small), M (medium), and L (large) coding DNA sequence of this virus showed that the Anjozorobe strain (proposed name) was a new genetic variant of Thailand virus (THAIV) that comprises other variants found in Southeast Asia. Because THAIV is suspected of causing hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in humans, ongoing studies are addressing the risk of infection by this new variant in the Malagasy population.
authors.affiliation: 1 Centre National de Référence des Hantavirus, Unité de Biologie des Infections Virales Emergentes, Institut Pasteur , Lyon, France .
authors.forename: Jean-Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Reynes
authors.forename: Nadia Kaloina
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Razafindralambo
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lacoste
authors.forename: Marie-Marie
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Olive
authors.forename: Tony Andrianaivo
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Barivelo
authors.forename: Voahangy
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Soarimalala
authors.forename: Jean-Michel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Heraud
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lavergne
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016679:Genome, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D006476:Orthohantavirus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018778:Hantavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D008270:Madagascar / Q000453:epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D012377:Rodentia; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA / Q000662:veterinary
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral