title: Apodemus agrarius is a potential natural host of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS)-causing novel bunyavirus.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is a tick-borne, novel bunyavirus-caused emerging infectious disease. It becomes a threat to public health due to its high fatality rate.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To clarify the epidemiological characteristics of SFTS and natural host(s) of SFTS-causing virus (SFTSV) in East China.
  
  
  METHODS
  Serum antibody against SFTSV in 496 healthy villagers was examined by ELISA. SFTSV in acute sera of SFTS cases and lung tissues of house and field mouse/rats were identified using quantitative RT-PCR, cell culture, and sequencing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 22 laboratory-confirmed SFTS cases were diagnosed between 2012 and 2014, of which 5 (22.7%) reported a history of tick-bites. The seroprevalance of SFTSV antibody was 10.5% in healthy villagers. SFTSV genomic RNAs were identified in 2 of 8 Apodemus agrarius but not in Rattus norvegicus (n=40) and Rattus losea (n=4). The 3 segments of SFTSV from 11 SFTS cases and 2 A. agrarius were successfully sequenced. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that at least 3 different SFTSV strains (inland-type, Ningbo-native-type, and their reassortant-type) were present in Ningbo. The 3 segments of the 2 SFTSV isolates from A. agrarius shared great sequence homologies to those isolated from the patients living in nearby villages.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study indicated that A. agrarius might be a natural host of SFTSV in East China.
authors: Department of Viral Research, Ningbo Center of Disease Control and Prevention, Ningbo 315010, China.
authors: Hongxia
authors: H
authors: Ni
authors: Department of Epidemiology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China.
authors: Fan
authors: F
authors: Yang
authors: Department of Viral Research, Ningbo Center of Disease Control and Prevention, Ningbo 315010, China.
authors: Yongdong
authors: Y
authors: Li
authors: Department of Epidemiology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China.
authors: Wenbin
authors: W
authors: Liu
authors: Department of Viral Research, Ningbo Center of Disease Control and Prevention, Ningbo 315010, China.
authors: Suli
authors: S
authors: Jiao
authors: Department of Epidemiology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China.
authors: Zixiong
authors: Z
authors: Li
authors: Department of Viral Research, Ningbo Center of Disease Control and Prevention, Ningbo 315010, China.
authors: Bo
authors: B
authors: Yi
authors: Department of Viral Research, Ningbo Center of Disease Control and Prevention, Ningbo 315010, China.
authors: Yi
authors: Y
authors: Chen
authors: Department of Epidemiology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China.
authors: Xiaomei
authors: X
authors: Hou
authors: Department of Viral Research, Ningbo Center of Disease Control and Prevention, Ningbo 315010, China.
authors: Fengjiao
authors: F
authors: Hu
authors: Department of Epidemiology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China.
authors: Yibo
authors: Y
authors: Ding
authors: Department of Viral Research, Ningbo Center of Disease Control and Prevention, Ningbo 315010, China.
authors: Guolin
authors: G
authors: Bian
authors: Department of Epidemiology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China.
authors: Yan
authors: Y
authors: Du
authors: Department of Viral Research, Ningbo Center of Disease Control and Prevention, Ningbo 315010, China. Electronic address: xugz@nbcdc.org.cn.
authors: Guozhang
authors: G
authors: Xu
authors: Department of Epidemiology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China. Electronic address: gcao@smmu.edu.cn.
authors: Guangwen
authors: G
authors: Cao
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D002044:Bunyaviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008168:Lung / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D051189:Murinae / Q000821:virology*; D016856:Phlebovirus / Q000254:growth & development*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014776:Virus Cultivation; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral
keywords: Apodemus agrarius; Evolution; Novel bunyavirus; Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome; Tick