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

In the canine/equine clade (also termed non-primate hepaciviruses or NPHV [23] ), it is striking that almost identical viruses have been found in horses and dogs. Additionally, horses but not dogs had antibodies against those viruses [24] . In the present study we augmented the number of studied dogs and horses considerably, and investigated cats in addition as these are related in the order of carnivores and have shared domestic habitats with dogs over a long history. The complete absence of viruses in cats and dogs, and the confirmation of highly similar viruses in other geographic regions, here and in another recent study [69] , suggest an actual equine association of the canine/equine clade. Whether acquisition of viruses might have occurred during the domestication of horses, or whether a more generic viral association with the equine stem lineage may exist, could be clarified by testing nondomestic equids such as wild asses or zebras. However, the overall phylogenetic position and monophyly of equine viruses suggest no role as ancestral hepacivirus hosts for horses. While the rodent hepaciviruses greatly extended the genetic diversity of the genus Hepacivirus, their role in the evolution of HCV precursors, if any, remains to be determined.