Search

The article presents a study which examines the Hantaviruses' ecology and characteristics in European Russia. It suggests that most of the hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) occurrence in European Russia is due to the Puumala virus (PUUV). It uses blood samples of rodents that were gathered using filter paper. After inclusive drying, the filter paper was soaked up in 10x the mass of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) at 4 °C overnight. The rinsed blood sample was heat-inactivated at 56 °C for 30 minutes. The outcome shows that PUUV is HFRS' main contributing agent in the Samara region. The outcomes further distinguish the public health threat due to PUUV transmission in the extreme HFRS outbreak part of European Russia.

Abstract: Puumala virus (PUUV) and other Arvicolinae-borne hantaviruses are difficult to cultivate in cell culture. To isolate these hantaviruses efficiently, hantavirus nucleocapsid protein (NP)-positive but seronegative wild rodents were selected by NP-detection ELISA. Three of 68 Myodes glareolus captured in Samara, Russia, were NP-positive and seronegative. Syrian hamsters were inoculated with lung homogenates from NP-positive rodents for virus propagation. Virus isolation in vitro was carried out by inoculation of lung homogenates of NP-positive hamsters to Vero E6 cell monolayers. Two PUUV strains (Samara49/CG/2005 and Samara94/CG/2005) from M. glareolus were isolated in Vero E6 cells. Nucleotide and amino acid sequence identities of the S segment of these isolates to those of PUUV F-s808 from a fatal HFRS patient in Samara region were 96.7–99.3% and 99.3–100.0%, respectively. Morphologic features of Vero E6 cells infected with PUUV strain Samara49/CG/2005 were quite similar to those of Hantaan virus-infected cells. Isolation of Hokkaido virus from Myodes rufocanus captured in Hokkaido, Japan, was also performed. Hokkaido virus NP and RNA were recovered and maintained in hamsters. These results suggest that inoculation of Syrian hamsters with rodent samples is an efficient method for the isolation and maintenance of PUUV and other Arvicolinae-borne hantaviruses. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]