First molecular evidence of Seewis virus in Croatia
In this study, nine shrews were tested and SWSV RNA was detected in liver and lung as well as kidney of two shrews (22,22%), one collected on Medvednica mountain in Zagreb County, and the other in the Stara Gradiška area in lowland region. We sequenced the detected SWSV virus using nested primers for the L segment and multiple primers to cover the entire S segment's open reading frame (ORF), or partial M segment. Phylogenetic analysis for complete S segment's ORF and partial L-segment revealed the separation of Croatian sequences to a specific genetic lineage comparing to sequences from adjacent geographic regions.