Nephropathia Epidemica Caused by Puumala Virus in Bank Voles, Scania, Southern Sweden

In 2018, a local case of nephropathia epidemica was reported in Scania, southern Sweden, more than 500 km south of the previously known presence of human hantavirus infections in Sweden. Another case emerged in the same area in 2020. To investigate the zoonotic origin of those cases, we trapped rode...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Emerging Infectious Diseases
Main Authors: Jiaxin Ling, Elin Economou Lundeberg, Anishia Wasberg, Inês R. Faria, Sanja Vucicevic, Bo Settergren, Åke Lundkvist
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2024
Subjects:
Puumala virus
viruses
Puumala orthohantavirus
zoonoses
nephropathia epidemica
etiology
Medicine
R
Infectious and parasitic diseases
RC109-216
karelia*
Northern Sweden
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3201/eid3004.231414
https://doaj.org/article/f5e5bcba779c49c3961894a9fccaac3f
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Summary:In 2018, a local case of nephropathia epidemica was reported in Scania, southern Sweden, more than 500 km south of the previously known presence of human hantavirus infections in Sweden. Another case emerged in the same area in 2020. To investigate the zoonotic origin of those cases, we trapped rodents in Ballingslöv, Norra Sandby, and Sörby in southern Sweden during 2020‒2021. We found Puumala virus (PUUV) in lung tissues from 9 of 74 Myodes glareolus bank voles by screening tissues using a hantavirus pan–large segment reverse transcription PCR. Genetic analysis revealed that the PUUV strains were distinct from those found in northern Sweden and Denmark and belonged to the Finnish PUUV lineage. Our findings suggest an introduction of PUUV from Finland or Karelia, causing the human PUUV infections in Scania. This discovery emphasizes the need to understand the evolution, cross-species transmission, and disease outcomes of this newly found PUUV variant.

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