Host-Associated Distribution of Two Novel Mammarenaviruses in Rodents from Southern Africa

Marike Geldenhuys; Jacqueline Weyer; Teresa Kearney; Wanda Markotter

doi:10.3390/v15010099

Host-Associated Distribution of Two Novel Mammarenaviruses in Rodents from Southern Africa

Viruses. 2022 Dec 29;15(1):99. doi: 10.3390/v15010099.

Authors

Marike Geldenhuys¹, Jacqueline Weyer^{1

2

3}, Teresa Kearney^{4

5}, Wanda Markotter¹

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Viral Zoonoses, Department of Medical Virology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0001, South Africa.
² Centre for Emerging Zoonotic and Parasitic Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Diseases of the National Health Laboratory Services, Johannesburg 2131, South Africa.
³ Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, School of Pathology, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2131, South Africa.
⁴ Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, Pretoria 0001, South Africa.
⁵ Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0001, South Africa.

Abstract

Mammarenaviruses are hosted by several rodent species, a small number of which have been known to be zoonotic. Host surveillance among small mammals has identified a large diversity of previously undescribed mammarenaviruses. Intensified biosurveillance is warranted to better understand the diversity of these agents. Longitudinal host surveillance involving non-volant small mammals at a site in the Limpopo province, South Africa, was conducted. The study reports on the screening results of 563 samples for the presence of mammarenavirus RNA. PCR-positive samples were subjected to sequencing using Miseq amplicon sequencing. Sequences with close similarity to Mariental and Lunk viruses were identified from two rodent species, Micaelamys namaquensis and Mus minutoides. This represents the first description of these viruses from South Africa. The genomic sequences reported here partially satisfied the requirements put forward by the International Committee on the Taxonomy of Viruses' criteria for species delineation, suggesting that these may be new strains of existing species. The known distribution of these mammarenaviruses is thus expanded further south in Africa.

Keywords: Lunk virus; Mariental virus; Miseq amplicon sequencing; mammarenavirus; surveillance.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Africa, Southern
Animals
Arenaviridae* / genetics
Mammals
Murinae
Phylogeny

Grants and funding

This research was partially supported by the Grant or Cooperative Agreement Number [5 NU2GGH001874-02-00], funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Department of Health and Human Services. This work was also supported in part by the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa: the DSI-NRF South African Research Chair held by WM Grant No. 98339 (as well as postdoctoral fellowship funding). The NRF is also thanked for funding the equipment based at the DNA Sanger sequencing facility in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria (UID:78566) that was used to generate Sanger sequencing data presented in this work. The financial assistance of the National Research Foundation (NRF) towards this research is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at, are those of the authors and are not necessarily to be attributed to the NRF. MG was also supported by the University of Pretoria’s postdoctoral funding program.