title: Hantavirus Strains in East Africa Related to Western African Hantaviruses.
abstract: Hantaviruses are RNA viruses primarily carried by rodents, soricomorphs, and bats. The data about the distribution and genetic diversity of these viruses are often limited, especially in most regions of sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, the majority of representatives were identified in western African localities, while only three hantaviruses have been reported in East Africa to date. In this study, a total of 1866 small mammals captured between 2009 and 2014 in various countries of Eastern Africa (Ethiopia, Zambia, Mozambique, Kenya, and Tanzania) were molecularly screened for the presence of hantaviruses. Hantavirus RNA was detected in dried blood samples of the Cape pipistrelle bat (Neoromicia capensis) captured in Ethiopia and the African wood mouse (Hylomyscus endorobae) from Kenya. Phylogenetic analysis of partial genomic segments revealed that the Ethiopian sample represents a sister lineage of the Mouyassué virus (reported previously from the congeneric bat in Côte d'Ivoire), and the Kenyan sample is a sister lineage of the Sangassou virus (described from the same mouse genus in Guinea).
authors.affiliation: 1 Institute of Vertebrate Biology , Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Brno, Czech Republic .|2 Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University , Brno, Czech Republic .
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Těšíková
authors.affiliation: 1 Institute of Vertebrate Biology , Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Brno, Czech Republic .
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bryjová
authors.affiliation: 1 Institute of Vertebrate Biology , Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Brno, Czech Republic .|2 Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University , Brno, Czech Republic .
authors.forename: Josef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bryja
authors.affiliation: 3 A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS , Moscow, Russia .
authors.forename: Leonid A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Lavrenchenko
authors.affiliation: 1 Institute of Vertebrate Biology , Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Brno, Czech Republic .
authors.forename: Joëlle
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Goüy de Bellocq
mesh_terms: D000351:Africa, Eastern / Q000453:epidemiology; D000354:Africa, Western / Q000453:epidemiology; D000818:Animals; D006476:Orthohantavirus / Q000145:classification*; D018778:Hantavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D008322:Mammals / Q000821:virology*; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral
keywords: East Africa; bats; hantavirus; phylogeny; rodents