Hantaviruses in rodents in China

Abstract

Hantavirus infection has been an increasingly alarming public health concern in China since 1955. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of hantavirus infection in rodents and strains of hantaviruses in different geographical locations in mainland China and Hong Kong. A total of 230 rodents of four species were collected from various sources in mainland China and Hong Kong during a seven-year period from 2008 to 2014. Detection of hantaviruses was performed using RT-PCR targeted to the partial nucleocapsid gene. The results showed that 21 rodents, all belonging to Rattus norvegicus, were positive for hantaviruses by RT-PCR, in which 8 spleen tissues and 17 kidney tissues were found positive. The positive rodents were mainly discovered in the restaurants and pig farms in mainland China. No positives were found in rodents from pet shops and wild nature in Hong Kong. Phylogenetic analysis of the partial small (S) segment of the positive rodents revealed that all sequences belonged to Seoul virus (SEOV). Three clusters of SEOV which were genetically close to SEOV strain GuangzhouRn36, with 97-99% nucleotide sequence identities, were identified. The presence of hantaviruses in Rattus norvegicus in the pig farms and restaurants has suggested the chance of human exposure to hantavirus infections.