Until recently, the single known exception to the rodent-hantavirus association was Thottapalayam virus (TPMV), a long-unclassified virus isolated from the Asian house shrew (Suncus murinus)Hantaviruses (family Bunyaviridae, genus Hantavirus) are medically important rodent-borne pathogens, causing hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS). The belief in long-standing coevolutionary relationships between hantaviruses and their reservoir rodent host species is supported by virus and rodent gene phylogenies. That is, phylogenetic analyses, based on full-length viral genomic sequences and rodent mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) or nuclear gene sequences, indicate that antigenically distinct hantaviruses segregate into clades, which parallel the evolution of rodents in the subfamilies Murinae, Arvicolinae, Neotominae, and Sigmodontinae (23,25,26,28,39,54). Previously, this phylogenetic insight has been successfully employed to direct the discovery of new hantaviruses, such as those found in the Korean field mouse (Apodemus peninsulae) (5) and the royal vole (Myodes regulus) (47).Renewed interest in the role of nonrodent reservoirs in the evolution of hantaviruses has been spurred by recent analysis of the entire genome of Thottapalayam virus (TPMV), a hantavirus isolated from the Asian house shrew (Suncus murinus) (10, 61), which revealed a separate phylogenetic clade, suggesting early evolutionary divergence from rodent-borne hantaviruses (44, 56). Armed with oligonucleotide primers designed on the basis of conserved regions of the TPMV genome and guided by long-ignored reports of serologic and antigenic evidence of hantavirus infection in shrews (20, 33, 52), we have previously detected genetically distinct hantaviruses in the Eurasian common shrew (Sorex araneus) from Switzerland (45); the Chinese mole shrew (Anourosorex squamipes) from Vietnam (46); and the northern short-tailed shrew (Blarina brevicauda), masked shrew (Sorex cinereus), and dusky shrew (Sorex monticolus) from the United States (1, 2) by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR). Novel hantavirus genomes in Therese's shrew (Crocidura theresae) from Guinea (29); the vagrant shrew (Sorex vagrans), Trowbridge's shrew (Sorex trowbridgii), and the American water shrew (Sorex palustris) from the United States (H. J. Kang and R. Yanagihara, unpublished data); and the flat-skulled shrew (Sorex roboratus) and Laxmann's shrew (Sorex caecutiens) from Russia (Kang and Yanagihara, unpublished) have also been detected.Here, we report the antigenic, genetic, and phylogenetic characterization of a newly identified hantavirus, designated Imjin virus (MJNV), isolated from Ussuri white-toothed shrews of the species Crocidura lasiura (order Soricomorpha, family Soricidae, subfamily Crocidurinae) captured near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) in the Republic of Korea. The discovery of MJNV and other soricid-borne hantaviruses from widely separated geographic regions, spanning four continents,

Sequence analysis of the full-length medium segment and the partial small and large segments of a hantavirus, detected by reverse transcription–PCR in lung tissues of the Chinese mole shrew (Anourosorex squamipes) captured in Cao Bang Province, Vietnam, in December 2006, indicated that it is genetically distinct from rodentborne hantaviruses.

王林发) 186 • Guoping Wang (王国平) 85 • Yanxiang Wang (王雁翔) 85 • Yaqin Wang (王亚琴) 38 • Muhammad Waqas 187 • Tàiyún Wèi (魏太云) 188 • Shaohua Wen (温少华) 85 • Anna E. Whitfield 189 • John V. Williams 190 • Yuri I. Wolf 99 • Jiangxiang Wu (吴建祥) 38 • Lei Xu (徐雷) 138 • Hironobu Yanagisawa (栁澤広 宣) 191 • Caixia Yang (杨彩霞) 69 • Zuokun Yang (杨作坤) 85 • F. Murilo Zerbini 192 • Lifeng Zhai (翟立峰) 193 • Yong-Zhen Zhang (张永振) 220,221 • Song Zhang (张松) 34 • Jinguo Zhang (张靖国) 194 • Zhe Zhang (张哲) 85 • Xueping Zhou (周雪平) 195

The presence of single genotype and unique mutations may be related with the circulation of endemic HAV over a long period of time in Korea.

Paramyxoviruses, negative-sense single-stranded RNA viruses, pose a critical threat to human public health. Currently, 78 species, 17 genera, and 4 subfamilies of paramyxoviruses are harbored by multiple natural reservoirs, including rodents, bats, birds, reptiles, and fish. Henipaviruses are critical zoonotic pathogens that cause severe acute respiratory distress and neurological diseases in humans. Using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, 115 Crocidura species individuals were examined for the prevalence of paramyxovirus infections. Paramyxovirus RNA was observed in 26 (22.6%) shrews collected at five trapping sites, Republic of Korea. Herein, we report two genetically distinct novel paramyxoviruses (genus: Henipavirus): Gamak virus (GAKV) and Daeryong virus (DARV) isolated from C. lasiura and C. shantungensis, respectively. Two GAKVs and one DARV were nearly completely sequenced using next-generation sequencing. GAKV and DARV contain six genes (3’-N-P-M-F-G-L-5´) with genome sizes of 18,460 nucleotides and 19,471 nucleotides, respectively. The phylogenetic inference demonstrated that GAKV and DARV form independent genetic lineages of Henipavirus in Crocidura species. GAKV-infected human lung epithelial cells elicited the induction of type I/III interferons, interferon-stimulated genes, and proinflammatory cytokines. In conclusion, this study contributes further understandings of the molecular prevalence, genetic characteristics and diversity, and zoonotic potential of novel paramyxoviruses in shrews.