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A new Puumala hantavirus subtype in rodents associated with an outbreak of Nephropathia epidemica in South-East Germany in 2004

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 May 2006

S. ESSBAUER ,
J. SCHMIDT ,
F. J. CONRATHS ,
R. FRIEDRICH ,
J. KOCH ,
W. HAUTMANN ,
M. PFEFFER ,
R. WÖLFEL ,
J. FINKE  and
G. DOBLER
...Show all authors
S. ESSBAUER
Affiliation:
Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, Munich, Germany
J. SCHMIDT
Affiliation:
Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Institute of Epidemiology, Wusterhausen, Germany Institute of Virology, Charité, Campus Mitte, Berlin, Germany
F. J. CONRATHS
Affiliation:
Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Institute of Epidemiology, Wusterhausen, Germany
R. FRIEDRICH
Affiliation:
Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Institute of Epidemiology, Wusterhausen, Germany
J. KOCH
Affiliation:
Robert Koch-Institut, Berlin, Germany
W. HAUTMANN
Affiliation:
Bayerisches Landesamt für Gesundheit und Lebensmittelsicherheit, Oberschleißheim, Germany
M. PFEFFER
Affiliation:
Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, Munich, Germany
R. WÖLFEL
Affiliation:
Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, Munich, Germany
J. FINKE
Affiliation:
Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, Munich, Germany
G. DOBLER
Affiliation:
Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, Munich, Germany
R. ULRICH
Affiliation:
Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Institute of Epidemiology, Wusterhausen, Germany
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Abstract

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A micro-epidemic of hantavirus infections occurred in Lower Bavaria, South-East Germany, starting in April 2004. While only three cases were registered from 2001 to 2003, a dramatically increased number of clinically apparent human hantavirus infections (n=38) was observed in 2004, plus seven additional cases by June 2005. To determine the reservoir responsible for the infections, a total of 43 rodents were trapped in Lower Bavaria. Serological and genetic investigations revealed that Puumala virus (PUUV) is dominant in the local population of bank voles. Partial PUUV S segment nucleotide sequences originating from bank voles at four different trapping sites in Lower Bavaria showed a low divergence (up to 3·1%). This is contrasted by a nucleotide sequence divergence of 14–16% to PUUV strains detected in Belgium, France, Slovakia or North-Western Germany. PUUV sequences from bank voles in Lower Bavaria represent a new PUUV subtype which seems to be responsible for the observed increase of human hantavirus infections in 2004–2005.

Type
Research Article
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 134 , Issue 6 , December 2006 , pp. 1333 - 1344
Copyright
2006 Cambridge University Press