Shuni Virus in Wildlife and Nonequine Domestic Animals, South Africa

Steyn, Jasper L.; Motlou, Pebetsi; Eeden, Charmaine van; Pretorius, Marthi; Stivaktas, Voula; Williams, J.H.; Snyman, Louwrens Pieter; Buss, Peter; Beechler, Brianna R.; Jolles, Anna E.; Pérez-Martín, Eva; Myburgh, Jan G.; Steyl, Johan Christian Abraham; Venter, Marietjie

doi:10.3201/eid2607.190770

Cited by 17 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The emergence of SHUV in Africa and Israel, its association with both congenital malformations and fatal encephalitis in ruminants [22], horses and wildlife [20,39], and its recent association with neurological disease in humans [40], calls for awareness and the development of control tools. Furthermore, areas where related orthobunyaviruses are endemic should also anticipate the emergence of reassortants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reverse Genetics System for Shuni Virus, an Emerging Orthobunyavirus with Zoonotic Potential

Oymans

Schreur

Oort

et al. 2020

Viruses

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The genus Orthobunyavirus (family Peribunyaviridae, order Bunyavirales) comprises over 170 named mosquito- and midge-borne viruses, several of which cause severe disease in animals or humans. Their three-segmented genomes enable reassortment with related viruses, which may result in novel viruses with altered host or tissue tropism and virulence. One such reassortant, Schmallenberg virus (SBV), emerged in north-western Europe in 2011. Shuni virus (SHUV) is an orthobunyavirus related to SBV that is associated with neurological disease in horses in southern Africa and recently caused an outbreak manifesting with neurological disease and birth defects among ruminants in Israel. The zoonotic potential of SHUV was recently underscored by its association with neurological disease in humans. We here report a reverse genetics system for SHUV and provide first evidence that the non-structural (NSs) protein of SHUV functions as an antagonist of host innate immune responses. We furthermore report the rescue of a reassortant containing the L and S segments of SBV and the M segment of SHUV. This novel reverse genetics system can now be used to study SHUV virulence and tropism, and to elucidate the molecular mechanisms that drive reassortment events.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reverse Genetics System for Shuni Virus, an Emerging Orthobunyavirus with Zoonotic Potential

Oymans

Schreur

Oort

et al. 2020

Viruses

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“…We extracted RNA from the CSF samples using the QIAamp Viral RNA Kit (QIAGEN, https://www.qiagen.com ). We performed an Orthobunyavirus genus-specific RT-PCR using the Agpath-ID One Step RT-PCR (Thermo Fisher Scientific, https://www.thermofisher.com ) with primers designed to amplify a 155-bp fragment of the nucleocapsid gene of the small (S) segment of orthobunyaviruses ( 14 ). We analyzed the sequences using the BioEdit DNA sequence alignment editor v7.0 5.3 software ( 15 ) and Blast search analysis ( https://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Blast.cgi ).…”

Section: The Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Shuni Virus in Cases of Neurologic Disease in Humans, South Africa

Motlou¹,

Venter²

2021

Emerg. Infect. Dis.

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“…The virus infects domesticated ruminants, horses, and a wide variety of wildlife species, such as rhinos, crocodiles. and giraffes [ 7 , 8 , 9 ]. In horses, cattle, and wildlife, SHUV causes severe neurological disease manifesting with tremors and ataxia [ 7 , 9 , 10 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…and giraffes [ 7 , 8 , 9 ]. In horses, cattle, and wildlife, SHUV causes severe neurological disease manifesting with tremors and ataxia [ 7 , 9 , 10 ]. In domesticated ruminants, SHUV is capable of crossing the placental barrier, resulting in congenital malformations, stillbirth, or abortion [ 11 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shuni Virus Replicates at the Maternal-Fetal Interface of the Ovine and Human Placenta

et al. 2020

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Shuni virus (SHUV) is a neglected teratogenic and neurotropic orthobunyavirus that was discovered in the 1960s in Nigeria and was subsequently detected in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Israel. The virus was isolated from field-collected biting midges and mosquitoes and shown to disseminate efficiently in laboratory-reared biting midges, suggesting that members of the families Culicidae and Ceratopogonidae may function as vectors. SHUV infections have been associated with severe neurological disease in horses, a variety of wildlife species, and domesticated ruminants. SHUV infection of ruminants is additionally associated with abortion, stillbirth, and congenital malformations. The detection of antibodies in human sera also suggests that the virus may have zoonotic potential. To understand how SHUV crosses the ruminant placenta, we here infected pregnant ewes and subsequently performed detailed clinical- and histopathological examination of placental tissue. We found that SHUV targets both maternal epithelial cells and fetal trophoblasts, that together form the maternal-fetal interface of the ovine placenta. Experiments with human placental explants, furthermore, revealed replication of SHUV in syncytiotrophoblasts, which are generally highly resistant to virus infections. Our findings provide novel insights into vertical transmission of SHUV in sheep and call for research on the potential risk of SHUV infection during human pregnancies.

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Shuni Virus in Wildlife and Nonequine Domestic Animals, South Africa

Cited by 17 publications

References 14 publications

Reverse Genetics System for Shuni Virus, an Emerging Orthobunyavirus with Zoonotic Potential

Reverse Genetics System for Shuni Virus, an Emerging Orthobunyavirus with Zoonotic Potential

Shuni Virus in Cases of Neurologic Disease in Humans, South Africa

Shuni Virus Replicates at the Maternal-Fetal Interface of the Ovine and Human Placenta

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