title: DISTRIBUTION AND SEASONAL VARIATION OF LJUNGAN VIRUS IN BANK VOLES (MYODES GLAREOLUS) IN FENNOSCANDIA.
abstract: Ljungan virus (LV) is a picornavirus originally isolated from Swedish bank voles ( Myodes glareolus ) in 1998. The association of LV with human disease has been debated ever since, but fundamental data on the ecology of the virus are still lacking. Here we present results of the first intensive study on the prevalence of LV in bank voles trapped in Fennoscandia (Sweden and Finland) from 2009-12 as determined by PCR. Using an LV-specific real-time reverse transcriptase PCR, LV was detected in the liver of 73 out of 452 (16.2%) individuals and in 13 out of 17 sampling sites across Sweden and Finland (mean per site prevalence 16%, SE 3%, range 0-50%). We found more infected animals in autumn compared to spring, and lighter and heavier individuals had a higher prevalence than those with intermediate body masses. The result that LV prevalence is also lower in heavier (i.e., older) animals suggests for the first time that LV infection is not persistent in rodents.
authors.affiliation: 1   Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via Edmund Mach 1, I-38010 San Michele all'Adige (TN), Italy.|2   Department of Virology and Immunology, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital (HUSLAB), Box 720, FI-00029 HUS, Finland.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fevola
authors.affiliation: 1   Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via Edmund Mach 1, I-38010 San Michele all'Adige (TN), Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.affiliation: 1   Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via Edmund Mach 1, I-38010 San Michele all'Adige (TN), Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rosà
authors.affiliation: 3   Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skogsmarksgränd, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Åke
authors.initials: Å
authors.lastname: Nordström
authors.affiliation: 3   Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skogsmarksgränd, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden.|4   Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7050, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Frauke
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ecke
authors.affiliation: 3   Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skogsmarksgränd, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Magnus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Magnusson
authors.affiliation: 5   Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health, Section for Parasitology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7036, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Andrea L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: 6   Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE), FI-01301 Vantaa, Finland.
authors.forename: Jukka
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Niemimaa
authors.affiliation: 3   Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skogsmarksgränd, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Gert E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Olsson
authors.affiliation: 2   Department of Virology and Immunology, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital (HUSLAB), Box 720, FI-00029 HUS, Finland.
authors.forename: Anne J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Jääskeläinen
authors.affiliation: 3   Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skogsmarksgränd, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Birger
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hörnfeldt
authors.affiliation: 6   Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE), FI-01301 Vantaa, Finland.
authors.forename: Heikki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Henttonen
authors.affiliation: 1   Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via Edmund Mach 1, I-38010 San Michele all'Adige (TN), Italy.
authors.forename: Heidi C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Hauffe
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003411:Arvicolinae / Q000821:virology*; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D030061:Parechovirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010850:Picornaviridae Infections / Q000662:veterinary*; D013548:Sweden
keywords: Finland; Parechovirus B; Sweden; picornavirus; prevalence; real-time reverse transcriptase PCR; rodent-borne virus