Prevalence of the Puumala orthohantavirus Strains in the Pre-Kama Area of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia

Abstract

<jats:p>Puumala orthohantavirus (PUUV) causes nephropathia epidemica (NE), a mild form of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) commonly diagnosed in Europe. The majority of HFRS cases in the European part of Russia are diagnosed in the Volga Federal District, which includes the Republic of Tatarstan (RT). The current study aims to analyze the genetic variability of PUUV in Pre-Kama region of the RT bounded by the Volga, Kama, and Vyatka rivers. In 2017, bank voles were caught in seven isolated forest traps in the Pre-Kama region and for the 26 PUUV-positive samples, the partial small (S), medium (M), and large (L) genome segment sequences were obtained and analyzed. It was determined that all identified PUUV strains belong to the Russian (RUS) genetic lineage; however, the genetic distance between strains is not directly correlated with the geographical distance between bank vole populations. One of the identified strains has S and L segments produced from one parental strain, while the M segment was supplied by another, suggesting that this strain could be the reassortant. We suggest that the revealed pattern of the PUUV strains distribution could be the result of a series of successive multidirectional migratory flows of the bank voles to the Pre-Kama region in the postglacial period.</jats:p>

Prevalence of Hantaviruses Harbored by Murid Rodents in Northwestern Ukraine and Discovery of a Novel Puumala Virus Strain

“…Similar to what has been observed in other research, we observed 100% amino acid identity of the PUUV S-segment fragments to the LAT lineage within our trapping sites [ 33 ]. Despite other PUUV lineages, we observed no distinct molecular signatures within our S-segments, suggesting that the Ukrainian sequences are not a new lineage.…”

The Distribution of Puumala orthohantavirus Genome Variants Correlates with the Regional Landscapes in the Trans-Kama Area of the Republic of Tatarstan

“…The intergroup sequence divergence was up to 6.0% ( Figure 2 , Supplementary Table S2 ). Analysis of these sequences and those previously published by Davidyuk et al [ 19 ], as well as other PUUV sequences belonging to the RUS lineage (Samara_49/CG/2005, Puu/Kazan, CG1820, DTK/Ufa-97 strains), showed 2.6–6.9% divergence ( Figure 3 , Supplementary Table S3 ). Throughout this article, we will use the terms ‘Pre-Kama sequences’/or ‘Pre-Kama strains’, referring to previously identified strains in the Pre-Kama area.…”

“…RT-PCR amplification was carried out using TaqPol polymerase (Evrogen, Moscow, Russia) as specified by the manufacturer. Forward and reverse primers used both for RT-PCRs amplification and sequencing were designed as described by Davidyuk et al [ 19 ].…”

“…In our previous work, we investigated the distribution of PUUV genome variants in the geographic region of the RT, called the Pre-Kama area. We showed that the PUUV strains display significant genetic diversity even in closely located bank vole populations [ 19 ]. The goal of the current study is to analyze the genetic variations of the PUUV strains circulating in bank vole populations located in the Trans-Kama area of the RT.…”

Orthohantaviruses, Emerging Zoonotic Pathogens

“…N protein is the most abundant viral protein synthesized early after infection [41]. This protein plays a role in intracellular transportation and assembly of mature virions [3,42].…”