Variegated Squirrel Bornavirus 1 in Squirrels, Germany and the Netherlands

Schlottau, Kore; Jenckel, Maria; Brand, Judith M. A. van den; Fast, Christine; Herden, Christiane; Höper, Dirk W.; Homeier‐Bachmann, Timo; Thielebein, Jens; Mensing, Niels; Diender, Bert; Hoffmann, Donata; Ulrich, Rainer G.; Mettenleiter, Thomas C.; Koopmans, Marion; Tappe, Dennis; Schmidt‐Chanasit, Jonas; Reusken, Chantal; Beer, Martin; Hoffmann, Bernd

doi:10.3201/eid2303.161061

Cited by 36 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Squirrels (n = 126) of five species belonging to the family Sciuridae were collected in four different countries (Canada, USA, Italy and UK), dissected according to standard protocols and brain, lung and spleen samples of these animals were available for screening for all three viruses. In addition, lung and spleen samples from another 112 squirrels belonging to another three species were available from previous bornavirus studies [17,21,22]. Thus, a total of 361 organ samples (243 spleen samples and 118 lung samples) were available for PyV and HV analyses (Tables 1, 2 and 3).…”

Section: Sample Collection and Nucleic Acid Preparationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Brain samples of the newly dissected 126 squirrels were screened with broad-range and VSBV-1 specific RT-qPCRs (Additional file 1) as described previously [17,28]. The other animals (n = 112) have already been investigated before [17,21,22].…”

Section: Bornavirus Screening Of Squirrel Brain Samplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently a novel zoonotic bornavirus, variegated squirrel bornavirus 1 (VSBV-1), was detected in five different squirrel species from private holdings and zoos, including Sciurus variegatoides and Callosciurus prevostii and is associated with cases of fatal encephalitis of their breeders and care takers [17,[21][22][23]. Bornaviruses (family Bornaviridae) are enveloped spherically structured viruses with a single-stranded RNA genome of negative polarity (size around 8.9 kilobases (kb)).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Search for polyoma-, herpes-, and bornaviruses in squirrels of the family Sciuridae

Schulze

Lurz

Ferrari

et al. 2020

Virol J

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Background: Squirrels (family Sciuridae) are globally distributed members of the order Rodentia with wildlife occurrence in indigenous and non-indigenous regions (as invasive species) and frequent presence in zoological gardens and other holdings. Multiple species introductions, strong inter-species competition as well as the recent discovery of a novel zoonotic bornavirus resulted in increased research interest on squirrel pathogens. Therefore we aimed to test a variety of squirrel species for representatives of three virus families. Methods: Several species of the squirrel subfamilies Sciurinae, Callosciurinae and Xerinae were tested for the presence of polyomaviruses (PyVs; family Polyomaviridae) and herpesviruses (HVs; family Herpesviridae), using generic nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with specificity for the PyV VP1 gene and the HV DNA polymerase (DPOL) gene, respectively. Selected animals were tested for the presence of bornaviruses (family Bornaviridae), using both a broad-range orthobornavirus-and a variegated squirrel bornavirus 1 (VSBV-1)-specific reverse transcriptionquantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). Results: In addition to previously detected bornavirus RNA-positive squirrels no more animals tested positive in this study, but four novel PyVs, four novel betaherpesviruses (BHVs) and six novel gammaherpesviruses (GHVs) were identified. For three PyVs, complete genomes could be amplified with long-distance PCR (LD-PCR). Splice sites of the PyV genomes were predicted in silico for large T antigen, small T antigen, and VP2 coding sequences, and experimentally confirmed in Vero and NIH/3T3 cells. Attempts to extend the HV DPOL sequences in upstream direction resulted in contiguous sequences of around 3.3 kilobase pairs for one BHV and two GHVs. Phylogenetic analysis allocated the novel squirrel PyVs to the genera Alpha-and Betapolyomavirus, the BHVs to the genus Muromegalovirus, and the GHVs to the genera Rhadinovirus and Macavirus.

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Section: Sample Collection and Nucleic Acid Preparationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Bornavirus Screening Of Squirrel Brain Samplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Search for polyoma-, herpes-, and bornaviruses in squirrels of the family Sciuridae

Schulze

Lurz

Ferrari

et al. 2020

Virol J

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“…Natürliche Infektionen werden bei Spitzmäusen und Hörnchen nachgewiesen, die die Infektion mit Bornavirus tolerieren und persistent Bornavirus ausscheiden. Bisher ist nicht geklärt, auf welchem Wege sich diese Tiere infizieren [45][46][47]. [48].…”

Section: Wissensstand üBer Den Erregerunclassified

“…Verbreitung von VSBV-1 in Hörnchen in Deutschland, in den Niederlanden, Kroatien und im Vereinigten Königreich wurden etwa 800 Proben von 20 Hörnchenspezies aus fünf verschiedenen Subfamilien untersucht [46,47]. Keines der untersuchten Tiere wies klinische Symptome auf.…”

Section: Infektionen Bei Bunthörnchen Und Schönhörnchen Mit Dem Mammaunclassified