Isolation and Genetic Characterization of Puumala Orthohantavirus Strains from France

Isolation and characterization of genetic variants of Orthohantavirus hantanense from clinical cases of HFRS in Jiangxi Province, China

BACKGROUND

Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) is a severe public health problem in Jiangxi province, China. Previous studies reported genetic variants of Orthohantavirus hantanense (Hantaan virus, HTNV) in rodents in this area. However, the relationship between HTNV variants and human infection needs to be confirmed. This study aimed to identify the HTNV variants in patients and to understand the clinical characteristics of HFRS caused by these variants.

METHODS

Samples were collected from hospitalized suspected cases of HFRS during the acute phase. HFRS cases were confirmed using quantitative real-time RT-PCR. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from patients with HFRS were inoculated into Vero-E6 cells for viral isolation. The genomic sequences of HTNV from patients were obtained by amplicon-based next-generation sequencing. A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical characteristics of the patients.

RESULTS

HTNV RNA was detected in 53 of 183 suspected HFRS patients. Thirteen HTNVs were isolated from 32 PBMCs of HFRS cases. Whole genome sequences of 14 HTNVs were obtained, including 13 isolates in cell culture from 13 patients, and one from plasma of the fatal case which was not isolated successfully in cell culture. Genetic analysis revealed that the HTNV sequence from the 14 patients showed significant variations in nucleotide and amino acid to the HTNV strains found in other areas. Fever (100%, 53/53), thrombocytopenia (100%, 53/53), increased serum aspartate aminotransferase (100%, 53/53), and increased lactate dehydrogenase (96.2%, 51/53) were the most common characteristics. Severe acute kidney injury was observed in 13.2% (7/53) of cases. Clinical symptoms, such as pain, petechiae, and gastrointestinal or respiratory symptoms were uncommon.

CONCLUSION

The HTNV genetic variants cause human infections in Jiangxi. The clinical symptoms of HFRS caused by the HTNV genetic variant during the acute phase are atypical. In addition to renal dysfunction, attention should be paid to the common liver injuries caused by these genetic variants.

A Portable Diagnostic Assay, Genetic Diversity, and Isolation of Seoul Virus from Rattus norvegicus Collected in Gangwon Province, Republic of Korea

Seoul virus (SEOV), an etiological agent for hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, poses a significant public health threat worldwide. This study evaluated the feasibility of a mobile Biomeme platform for facilitating rapid decision making of SEOV infection. A total of 27 Rattus norvegicus were collected from Seoul Metropolitan City and Gangwon Province in Republic of Korea (ROK), during 2016-2020. The serological and molecular prevalence of SEOV was 5/27 (18.5%) and 2/27 (7.4%), respectively. SEOV RNA was detected in multiple tissues of rodents using the Biomeme device, with differences in Ct values ranging from 0.6 to 2.1 cycles compared to a laboratory benchtop system. Using amplicon-based next-generation sequencing, whole-genome sequences of SEOV were acquired from lung tissues of Rn18-1 and Rn19-5 collected in Gangwon Province. Phylogenetic analysis showed a phylogeographical diversity of rat-borne orthohantavirus collected in Gangwon Province. We report a novel isolate of SEOV Rn19-5 from Gangwon Province. Our findings demonstrated that the Biomeme system can be applied for the molecular diagnosis of SEOV comparably to the laboratory-based platform. Whole-genome sequencing of SEOV revealed the phylogeographical diversity of orthohantavirus in the ROK. This study provides important insights into the field-deployable diagnostic assays and genetic diversity of orthohantaviruses for the rapid response to hantaviral outbreaks in the ROK.