Detection and Characterization of Homologues of Human Hepatitis Viruses and Pegiviruses in Rodents and Bats in Vietnam

Van Nguyen, Dung; Van Nguyen, Cuong; Bonsall, David; Ngo, Tue Tri; Carrique-Mas, Juan; Pham, Anh Hong; Bryant, Juliet E.; Thwaites, Guy; Baker, Stephen; Woolhouse, Mark; Simmonds, Peter

Rodent samples. As it is important and essential to understand the risk associated with rodents, including those sold in the markets, a total of 435 rats purchased from markets in five of twelve provinces in the Mekong Delta during 2012-2015 and 82 farmed bamboo rats purchased from a market in Dak Lak in 2014-2015 were enrolled. In addition, 226 trapped rats were also included. Rat trapping was carried out in different locations (pig and poultry farms, rice fields, fruit groves, tropical forests, markets, slaughter-house) in the provinces of Dong Thap during March 2013 and Dak Lak in April 2014, as previously described [27] . Serum and liver samples were collected post-mortem. Species identification of rats was carried out on the basis of morphological characteristics and sequencing of a conserved housekeeping gene [27] . All of the samples were stored in sterile tubes with RNA later at −20 • C until nucleic acid extraction. Special precautions were taken to avoid cross-contamination.