Isolation and characterization of Hantavirus carried by rodents in Huludao, Liaoning province / 中华流行病学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the Hantavirus infection and their genotype in rodents in Huludao.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Rodents were collected from the main epidemic areas to detect antigen of Hantavirus in rat lungs by indirect immunofluorescence assay. Antigen-positive samples were inoculated onto cultures of confluent Vero E6 cells for the isolation of virus. The genotypes of viruses in all antigen-positive samples were identified by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>200 rats were collected in the main epidemic areas, and 11 Hantavirus-positive samples were tested. The positive rate of Hantavirus in rats was 5.5%. Three strains of Hantavirus were isolated in Vero E6 cell culture. Data from the phylogenetic trees constructed by partial S segment (620-999 nt) or partial G1 segment (180-580 nt) showed that the three isolates carried by rats from Huludao were all genetic subtype SEOV 3. Furthermore, the phylogenetic tree constructed by partial G2 segment (2003-2302 nt) divided SEOV strains into 7 genetic subtypes, and the three isolates were having a closer evolutionary relationship with isolates CP211, ch302 and dc501 from Beijing, and the isolates SD10 and SD227 form Shandong.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Data indicated that the rate of carrying virus was high and the main genetic subtype of Hantavirus was S3 of Seoul virus in Huludao area.</p>