Seoul Virus in Pet and Feeder Rats in The Netherlands

Seoul virus (SEOV) is a zoonotic orthohantavirus carried by rats. In humans, SEOV can cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome. Recent human SEOV cases described in the USA, United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands were associated with contact with pet or feeder rats. The prevalence of SEOV in these types of rats is unknown. We collected 175 pet and feeder rats ( Rattus norvegicus ) from private owners, ratteries and commercial breeders/traders in the Netherlands. Lung tissue of the rats was tested using a SEOV real-time RT-qPCR and heart fluid was tested for the presence of antibodies ag... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Tryntsje Cuperus
Ankje de Vries
Tabitha E. Hoornweg
Manoj Fonville
Ryanne I. Jaarsma
Marieke Opsteegh
Miriam Maas
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2021
Reihe/Periodikum: Viruses, Vol 13, Iss 443, p 443 (2021)
Verlag/Hrsg.: MDPI AG
Schlagwörter: Seoul virus / orthohantavirus / rat / Microbiology / QR1-502
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-26800715
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://doi.org/10.3390/v13030443

Seoul virus (SEOV) is a zoonotic orthohantavirus carried by rats. In humans, SEOV can cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome. Recent human SEOV cases described in the USA, United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands were associated with contact with pet or feeder rats. The prevalence of SEOV in these types of rats is unknown. We collected 175 pet and feeder rats ( Rattus norvegicus ) from private owners, ratteries and commercial breeders/traders in the Netherlands. Lung tissue of the rats was tested using a SEOV real-time RT-qPCR and heart fluid was tested for the presence of antibodies against SEOV. In all three investigated groups, RT-qPCR-positive rats were found: in 1/29 rats from private owners (3.6%), 2/56 rats from ratteries (3.4%) and 11/90 rats from commercial breeders (12.2%). The seroprevalence was largely similar to the prevalence calculated from RT-qPCR-positive rats. The SEOV sequences found were highly similar to sequences previously found in domesticated rats in Europe. In conclusion, SEOV is spread throughout different populations of domesticated rats.