"Gairovirus,anovelarena virusof the widespread Mastomys natalensis: genetically divergent,but ecologically similar to Lassa and Morogoro viruses

Gryseels, SophieRieger, ToniOestereich, LisaCuypers, BartBorremans, BennyMakundi, RhodesLeirs, HerwigGünther, StephanGoüy de Bellocq, Joëlle2016-12-062016-12-062015https://www.suaire.sua.ac.tz/handle/123456789/1085Despite itsnearpan-Africanrange,theNatalmultimammatemouse, Mastomysnatalensis, carriesthe human pathogenLassavirusonlyinWestAfrica,whiletheseeminglynon-pathogenicarenaviruses Mopeia, Morogoro,andLunahavebeendetectedinthissemi-commensalrodentinMozambique/ Zimbabwe,TanzaniaandZambia,respectively.Here,wedescribeanovelarenavirusin M. natalensis from Gairo districtofcentralTanzania,forwhichweproposethename “Gairo virus”. Surprisingly,thevirusis not closelyrelatedwithMorogorovirusthatinfects M. natalensis only 90kmsouthofGairo,butclusters phylogeneticallywithMobala-likevirusesthatinfectnon-M. natalensis host speciesinCentralAfrican RepublicandEthiopia.Despitetheevolutionarydistance,Gairovirussharesbasicecologicalfeatures with theother M. natalensis-borne virusesLassaandMorogoro.Ourdatashowthat M. natalensis, carrying distantlyrelatedviruseseveninthesamegeographicalarea,isapotentreservoirhostfora varietyofarenaviruses.enArenavirusMastomys natalensisVirologyPhylogenyEcologyZoonotic infectionsHemorrhagic feversTanzania"Gairovirus,anovelarena virusof the widespread Mastomys natalensis: genetically divergent,but ecologically similar to Lassa and Morogoro virusesArticle