Evidence for Novel Hepaciviruses in Rodents

Drexler, Jan Felix; Corman, Victor Max; Müller, Marcel Alexander; Lukashev, Alexander N.; Gmyl, Anatoly; Coutard, Bruno; Adam, Alexander; Ritz, Daniel; Leijten, Lonneke M.; van Riel, Debby; Kallies, Rene; Klose, Stefan M.; Gloza-Rausch, Florian; Binger, Tabea; Annan, Augustina; Adu-Sarkodie, Yaw; Oppong, Samuel; Bourgarel, Mathieu; Rupp, Daniel; Hoffmann, Bernd; Schlegel, Mathias; Kümmerer, Beate M.; Krüger, Detlev H.; Schmidt-Chanasit, Jonas; Setién, Alvaro Aguilar; Cottontail, Veronika M.; Hemachudha, Thiravat; Wacharapluesadee, Supaporn; Osterrieder, Klaus; Bartenschlager, Ralf; Matthee, Sonja; Beer, Martin; Kuiken, Thijs; Reusken, Chantal; Leroy, Eric M.; Ulrich, Rainer G.; Drosten, Christian

The targeted identification of animal hepaciviruses might help elucidating the obscure origins of HCV and yield more accessible HCV surrogate models. We have recently demonstrated that the systematic investigation of small mammal reservoirs can yield novel viruses that are genetically closely related to human pathogenic viruses, such as the paramyxoviruses mumps and Nipah virus [25] . Biological and ecological considerations direct research interests to animals with properties supportive of virus maintenance. The close social interaction of certain bat species forming large and dense social groups favors virus maintenance [25, 26] . Virus spreading by bats may be facilitated by their migratory lifestyle, but also by human activities such as hunting of bats as bushmeat and human invasion of remote habitats [27, 28, 29] . Several rodent species are also in focus as potential virus reservoirs, as they constitute habitat generalists and follow human civilization, providing opportunities for virus transmission [30, 31] . Even though rodents form smaller social groups than bats, some rodent species have a high population turnover, which should enable efficient maintenance of viruses through the continuous replenishment of susceptible individuals [26, 32] . Among terrestrial mammals, rodents and bats together constitute about two thirds of the 5,487 known mammalian species [33] . Screening of wild mammals with a view on laboratory models should be oriented by criteria such as small body size and the ability to adapt to laboratory conditions, which applies to rodents, but not bats [12, 34] . Here we have investigated 7,709 bats and rodents pertaining to 92 species sampled globally in ten tropical and temperate countries. The investigation was complemented by a comparison of virus diversity in 1,068 horses, cats and dogs.