Host switch during evolution of a genetically distinct hantavirus in the American shrew mole (Neurotrichus gibbsii).

Kang HJ, Bennett SN, Dizney L, Sumibcay L, Arai S, Ruedas LA, Song JW, Yanagihara R.

Citation

Kang HJ, Bennett SN, Dizney L, Sumibcay L, Arai S, Ruedas LA, Song JW, Yanagihara R. (2009) Host switch during evolution of a genetically distinct hantavirus in the American shrew mole (Neurotrichus gibbsii). Virology 388(1):8-14.

Abstract

A genetically distinct hantavirus, designated Oxbow virus (OXBV), was detected in tissues of an American shrew mole (Neurotrichus gibbsii), captured in Gresham, Oregon, in September 2003. Pairwise analysis of full-length S- and M- and partial L-segment nucleotide and amino acid sequences of OXBV indicated low sequence similarity with rodent-borne hantaviruses. Phylogenetic analyses using maximum-likelihood and Bayesian methods, and host-parasite evolutionary comparisons, showed that OXBV and Asama virus, a hantavirus recently identified from the Japanese shrew mole (Urotrichus talpoides), were related to soricine shrew-borne hantaviruses from North America and Eurasia, respectively, suggesting parallel evolution associated with cross-species transmission.