title: Gairo virus, a novel arenavirus of the widespread Mastomys natalensis: Genetically divergent, but ecologically similar to Lassa and Morogoro viruses.
abstract: Despite its near pan-African range, the Natal multimammate mouse, Mastomys natalensis, carries the human pathogen Lassa virus only in West Africa, while the seemingly non-pathogenic arenaviruses Mopeia, Morogoro, and Luna have been detected in this semi-commensal rodent in Mozambique/Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Zambia, respectively. Here, we describe a novel arenavirus in M. natalensis from Gairo district of central Tanzania, for which we propose the name "Gairo virus". Surprisingly, the virus is not closely related with Morogoro virus that infects M. natalensis only 90km south of Gairo, but clusters phylogenetically with Mobala-like viruses that infect non-M. natalensis host species in Central African Republic and Ethiopia. Despite the evolutionary distance, Gairo virus shares basic ecological features with the other M. natalensis-borne viruses Lassa and Morogoro. Our data show that M. natalensis, carrying distantly related viruses even in the same geographical area, is a potent reservoir host for a variety of arenaviruses.
authors.affiliation: Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium. Electronic address: sophie.gryseels@uantwerpen.be.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gryseels
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Bernard-Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Toni
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rieger
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Bernard-Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Oestereich
authors.affiliation: Unit of Molecular Parasitology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium; Biomedical Informatics Research Center Antwerpen (Biomina), University of Antwerp/Antwerp University Hospital, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Bart
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cuypers
authors.affiliation: Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Benny
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Borremans
authors.affiliation: Pest Management Centre, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania.
authors.forename: Rhodes
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Makundi
authors.affiliation: Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Herwig
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Leirs
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Bernard-Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Günther
authors.affiliation: Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium; Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Studenec, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Joëlle
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Goüy de Bellocq
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D001117:Arenaviridae Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D018050:Arenavirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D007836:Lassa virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D051189:Murinae / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D013636:Tanzania
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral
keywords: Arenavirus; Ecology; Hemorrhagic fevers; Mastomys natalensis; Phylogeny; Tanzania; Virology; Zoonotic infections