Ljungan Virus Detected in Bank Voles (Myodes glareolus) and Yellow-Necked Mice (Apodemus flavicollis) from Northern Italy

Abstract

ABSTRACT:Identified in 1998, Ljungan virus (LV; Picornaviridae) causes type 1 diabeteslike symptoms and myocarditis in bank voles (Myodes glareolus) from Sweden and Denmark, and may be a zoonotic agent of several important diseases (e.g., intrauterine fetal death, type 1 diabetes, Guillain-Barré syndrome, and myocarditis). Using a real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction assay and sequence analysis, we detected LV in bank voles, and for the first time, in yellow-necked mice (Apodemus flavicollis) collected during 2006 from a site in northern Italy. The global distribution of LV and its role as a mammalian pathogen deserve further attention.

Ljungan Virus and an Adenovirus in Italian Squirrel Populations

“…Little is known about the circulation of LV in the environment; however, one of our sequences was identical to a widespread haplotype found in several rodent species across Europe, and the other was identical to a haplotype carried by bank voles in Lombardy (Hauffe et al 2010), suggesting that squirrels might play an active part in both intra-and interspecific LV circulation; further ecologic and phylogenetic analyses are underway to confirm this.…”

“…Ljungan virus was isolated in 1999 (Niklasson et al 1999), and has subsequently been detected in many species of small rodents, especially voles (Arvicolinae; Johansson et al 2003;Hauffe et al 2010;Salisbury et al 2013). In northern Italy, this virus has been reported in a small sample of bank voles (Myodes glareolus) and yellow-necked mice (Apodemus flavicollis) with 50% and 10% prevalence, respectively (Hauffe et al 2010).…”

“…In northern Italy, this virus has been reported in a small sample of bank voles (Myodes glareolus) and yellow-necked mice (Apodemus flavicollis) with 50% and 10% prevalence, respectively (Hauffe et al 2010). Although its zoonotic potential is still debated, LV has been associated with type 1 diabetes (T1D), myocarditis, and several gestational diseases in humans (McDonald 2009;Blixt et al 2013).…”

Food resources and intestinal parasites as limiting factors for boreal vole populations during winter

“…presence is now known, the search for animal reservoirs, and identification of the circulating strain(s), remains. In this study, LV seroprevalence was low and viral RNA nondetectable, which is indicative of spillover from sympatric species, probably bank voles (Hauffe et al 2010, Jääskeläi-nen et al 2013. Our finding contrasts those from the United Kingdom where high prevalence was reported in field vole populations through PCR (Salisbury et al 2013).…”

“…LV was first isolated from bank voles in Sweden (Niklasson et al 1999), and has since been detected in several mouse and vole species (Hauffe et al 2010, Jääskeläinen et al 2013, including most recently, field voles in the United Kingdom (Salisbury et al 2014). This parechovirus has attracted research interest due to its alleged, although highly debated, association with severe human conditions , Nilsson et al 2009).…”