A Novel Mole-borne Hantavirus

Following multiple failed attempts, a previously unrecognized hantavirus, designated Dahonggou Creek virus (DHCV), was detected in archival frozen tissues of a long-tailed mole (Scaptonyx fusicaudus), captured in Shimian County, Sichuan Province, People’s Republic of China, in August 1989. Analyses of a 1058-nucleotide region of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase-encoding L segment indicated that DHCV was genetically distinct from other rodent-, shrew-, mole-, and bat-borne hantaviruses. Since tree topologies were very similar using RAxML and MrBayes, the tree generated by MrBayes was displayed, showing DHCV strain MSB281632 (labeled in red) in relationship to other mole-borne hantaviruses (labeled
in blue).

Kang, H.J., Gu, S.H., Cook, J.A., Yanagihara, R. Dahonggou Creek virus, a divergent lineage of hantavirus harbored by the long-tailed mole (Scaptonyx fusicaudus). Tropical Medicine and Health 44, 16, 2016.