Cargando…

A Novel Squirrel Respirovirus with Putative Zoonotic Potential

In a globalized world, the threat of emerging pathogens plays an increasing role, especially if their zoonotic potential is unknown. In this study, a novel respirovirus, family Paramyxoviridae, was isolated from a Sri Lankan Giant squirrel (Ratufa macroura), which originated in Sri Lanka and decease...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Forth, Leonie F., Konrath, Andrea, Klose, Kristin, Schlottau, Kore, Hoffmann, Kathrin, Ulrich, Rainer G., Höper, Dirk, Pohlmann, Anne, Beer, Martin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6070802/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30021939
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v10070373
_version_ 1783343737330466816
author Forth, Leonie F.
Konrath, Andrea
Klose, Kristin
Schlottau, Kore
Hoffmann, Kathrin
Ulrich, Rainer G.
Höper, Dirk
Pohlmann, Anne
Beer, Martin
author_facet Forth, Leonie F.
Konrath, Andrea
Klose, Kristin
Schlottau, Kore
Hoffmann, Kathrin
Ulrich, Rainer G.
Höper, Dirk
Pohlmann, Anne
Beer, Martin
author_sort Forth, Leonie F.
collection PubMed
description In a globalized world, the threat of emerging pathogens plays an increasing role, especially if their zoonotic potential is unknown. In this study, a novel respirovirus, family Paramyxoviridae, was isolated from a Sri Lankan Giant squirrel (Ratufa macroura), which originated in Sri Lanka and deceased with severe pneumonia in a German zoo. The full-genome characterization of this novel virus, tentatively named Giant squirrel respirovirus (GSqRV), revealed similarities to murine (71%), as well as human respiroviruses (68%) with unique features, for example, a different genome length and a putative additional accessory protein. Congruently, phylogenetic analyses showed a solitary position of GSqRV between known murine and human respiroviruses, implicating a putative zoonotic potential. A tailored real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) for specific detection of GSqRV confirmed a very high viral load in the lung, and, to a lesser extent, in the brain of the deceased animal. A pilot study on indigenous and exotic squirrels did not reveal additional cases in Germany. Therefore, further research is essential to assess the geographic distribution, host range, and zoonotic potential of this novel viral pathogen.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-6070802
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2018
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-60708022018-08-09 A Novel Squirrel Respirovirus with Putative Zoonotic Potential Forth, Leonie F. Konrath, Andrea Klose, Kristin Schlottau, Kore Hoffmann, Kathrin Ulrich, Rainer G. Höper, Dirk Pohlmann, Anne Beer, Martin Viruses Article In a globalized world, the threat of emerging pathogens plays an increasing role, especially if their zoonotic potential is unknown. In this study, a novel respirovirus, family Paramyxoviridae, was isolated from a Sri Lankan Giant squirrel (Ratufa macroura), which originated in Sri Lanka and deceased with severe pneumonia in a German zoo. The full-genome characterization of this novel virus, tentatively named Giant squirrel respirovirus (GSqRV), revealed similarities to murine (71%), as well as human respiroviruses (68%) with unique features, for example, a different genome length and a putative additional accessory protein. Congruently, phylogenetic analyses showed a solitary position of GSqRV between known murine and human respiroviruses, implicating a putative zoonotic potential. A tailored real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) for specific detection of GSqRV confirmed a very high viral load in the lung, and, to a lesser extent, in the brain of the deceased animal. A pilot study on indigenous and exotic squirrels did not reveal additional cases in Germany. Therefore, further research is essential to assess the geographic distribution, host range, and zoonotic potential of this novel viral pathogen. MDPI 2018-07-18 /pmc/articles/PMC6070802/ /pubmed/30021939 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v10070373 Text en © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Forth, Leonie F.
Konrath, Andrea
Klose, Kristin
Schlottau, Kore
Hoffmann, Kathrin
Ulrich, Rainer G.
Höper, Dirk
Pohlmann, Anne
Beer, Martin
A Novel Squirrel Respirovirus with Putative Zoonotic Potential
title A Novel Squirrel Respirovirus with Putative Zoonotic Potential
title_full A Novel Squirrel Respirovirus with Putative Zoonotic Potential
title_fullStr A Novel Squirrel Respirovirus with Putative Zoonotic Potential
title_full_unstemmed A Novel Squirrel Respirovirus with Putative Zoonotic Potential
title_short A Novel Squirrel Respirovirus with Putative Zoonotic Potential
title_sort novel squirrel respirovirus with putative zoonotic potential
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6070802/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30021939
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v10070373
work_keys_str_mv AT forthleonief anovelsquirrelrespiroviruswithputativezoonoticpotential
AT konrathandrea anovelsquirrelrespiroviruswithputativezoonoticpotential
AT klosekristin anovelsquirrelrespiroviruswithputativezoonoticpotential
AT schlottaukore anovelsquirrelrespiroviruswithputativezoonoticpotential
AT hoffmannkathrin anovelsquirrelrespiroviruswithputativezoonoticpotential
AT ulrichrainerg anovelsquirrelrespiroviruswithputativezoonoticpotential
AT hoperdirk anovelsquirrelrespiroviruswithputativezoonoticpotential
AT pohlmannanne anovelsquirrelrespiroviruswithputativezoonoticpotential
AT beermartin anovelsquirrelrespiroviruswithputativezoonoticpotential
AT forthleonief novelsquirrelrespiroviruswithputativezoonoticpotential
AT konrathandrea novelsquirrelrespiroviruswithputativezoonoticpotential
AT klosekristin novelsquirrelrespiroviruswithputativezoonoticpotential
AT schlottaukore novelsquirrelrespiroviruswithputativezoonoticpotential
AT hoffmannkathrin novelsquirrelrespiroviruswithputativezoonoticpotential
AT ulrichrainerg novelsquirrelrespiroviruswithputativezoonoticpotential
AT hoperdirk novelsquirrelrespiroviruswithputativezoonoticpotential
AT pohlmannanne novelsquirrelrespiroviruswithputativezoonoticpotential
AT beermartin novelsquirrelrespiroviruswithputativezoonoticpotential