Evidence of circulation of Laguna Negra-like hantavirus in the Central West of Brazil: Case report

doi:10.1016/j.jcv.2009.03.015

Journal of Clinical Virology

Volume 45, Issue 2, June 2009, Pages 153-156

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcv.2009.03.015 Get rights and content

Abstract

Background

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome has been reported with increasing frequency in some Brazilian regions, but information about viral genetic identification is still limited. Recently, the state of Mato Grosso, in the Legal Amazon of Brazil, experienced a growing number of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) cases but the genetic characterization of the causative hantavirus is still missing.

Objectives

Our goal was to identify the hantavirus strain involved in a fatal HPS case in the Central region of Brazil.

Study design

Nested RT-PCR was conducted on blood clot samples from an HPS patient from Mato Grosso. PCR-positive samples were sequenced, and the resulting sequences were compared with reference samples. Viral antigens were detected by immunohistological analyses in lung and liver tissues.

Results

Analyses of the viral RNA isolated from the patient identified a Laguna Negra (LN)-like virus as the causative agent and histological analysis of lung sections were compatible with the genetic characterization.

Conclusions

This is the first report of circulation and human infection by a Laguna Negra-like hantavirus in Brazil.

Section snippets

Background

Hantaviruses are serologically related members of the family Bunyaviridae that occur worldwide in association with rodents and insectivore carriers. These viruses have been linked with two distinct diseases: hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS).¹

In Brazil, a surveillance program was implemented in 1993 to monitor HPS cases.² Afterwards, evidence for hantavirus infection was described in various regions. In order to identify the hantavirus strain

Objectives

The objective of this study is identifying the hantavirus strain related to a fatal HPS case in Mato Grosso state, Brazil and determined its phylogenetic relationship with circulating South American hantaviruses.

Study design

Serum and clot samples from a patient with suggestive symptoms of hantavirus infection were tested using specific IgM and IgG antibody assays (ELISA) and RT-PCR for viral RNA detection. Partial viral genomic S segment was sequenced and genotyped by phylogenetic reconstruction. In addition, histopathological and immunohistochemical studies were performed in tissues sections of lung and liver aiming to characterize the main target sites during hantavirus infection.

Results

The patient was a 19-year-old man farm worker, previously healthy, who lived in Campo Novo do Parecis, in the west of Mato Grosso (13°40′31″S 57°53′31″W). He was admitted to hospital reporting 3 days of flu-like symptoms, and after hospitalization, he developed malaise, high fever, myalgia, headache, dry cough, tiredness, dispnea, back pain, nausea, vomits, abdominal pain and diarrhea. The initial treatment was intravenous administration of one liter of normal saline solution and symptomatic

Discussion

In Brazil, despite the increasing training of medical personnel to recognize the clinical symptoms of HPS, mortality rate is still high (∼40%). The demarcation of hantavirus transmission areas and the characterization of circulating virus should contribute to better direct control measures. To identify its causative agent, we studied a fatal HPS case from the state of Mato Grosso, in the central region of Brazil. This area is of special interest because it presents a growing number of

Conflict of interest

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Acknowledgments

We are indebted with Gisélia Rubio from Departamento de Vigilância, SESA-PR and Irene Skraba from LACEN-PR. The authors thank CNPq, CNPq/Prosul, Fiocruz, Fundação Araucária, CYTED/RIVE and Fundo Paraná for financial support. LB, FGH, SC, GACA, JB and CNDS are CNPq fellowship recipients.

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Associação dos casos de síndrome cardiopulmonar por hantavírus na área de influência da BR 324 com o vírus Laguna Negra

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Identificação do vírus Castelo dos Sonhos em roedores Oligoryzomys moojeni em Campo Novo do Parecis

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All orthohantaviruses known to cause human disease are associated with rodent hosts (Montgomery et al., 2012). To date, at least 37 main species or genotypes of orthohantavirus have been identified as being in circulation in Bolivia, including the following: Rio Mamore virus (RIOMV) (Bharadwaj et al., 1997; Hjelle et al., 1996) (also reported in Peru and the French Guiana (Powers et al., 1999; Richter et al., 2010)), Laguna Negra virus (LANV) or LANV-like viruses (also reported in Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina) (Johnson et al., 1997; Levis et al., 2004; Raboni et al., 2009), Bermejo virus (BMJV), reported explicitly in Bolivia (Montgomery et al., 2012; Montoya-Ruiz et al., 2014), and Andes virus (ANDV) strains, including new ones such as Tunari virus (TUNV) (Cruz et al., 2012). Bermejo is a city and municipality in the extreme south of Tarija department in Bolivia, where two cases of orthohantavirus pulmonary or cardiopulmonary syndrome (OHCPS) occurred in May and July 2000.
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Following the emphasis of public health policies on reservoir surveillance (Mills and Childs, 1998), eco-epidemiological studies have been conducted in Brazilian regions where HCPS cases have occurred, and eight different hantavirus genotypes have been identified. Five of them have been associated with HCPS, namely Juquitiba (JUQV)/Araucária, Araraquara, Castelo dos Sonhos, Anajatuba and Laguna Negra, carried by Oligoryzomys nigripes, Necromys lasiurus, Oligoryzomys utiaritensis, Oligoryzomys fornesi and Calomys callidus, respectively (Monroe et al., 1999; Johnson et al., 1999; Suzuki et al., 2004; Raboni et al., 2009; Travassos da Rosa et al., 2010, 2011, 2012). Three more species, Rio Mearim, Jabora and a hantavirus related to the Seoul virus have also been identified in the rodent species Holochilus sciureus, Akodon montensis, and Rattus norvegicus, respectively, but their role in human disease has not yet been clarified (LeDuc et al., 1985; Rosa et al., 2005; de Oliveira et al., 2011).
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Case reportEvidence of circulation of Laguna Negra-like hantavirus in the Central West of Brazil: Case report

Abstract

Background

Objectives

Study design

Results

Conclusions

Section snippets

Background

Objectives

Study design

Results

Discussion

Conflict of interest

Acknowledgments

Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis

Virology

Hantaviruses and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome

Clin Infect Dis

Genetic investigation of novel hantaviruses causing fatal HPS in Brazil

J Med Virol

Identifying rodent hantavirus reservoirs, Brazil

Emerg Infect Dis

Hantaviruses in São Paulo State, Brazil

Emerg Infect Dis

Newly recognized hantaviruses associated with hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in northern Brazil: partial genetic characterization of viruses and serologic implication of likely reservoirs

Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis

Expression of a hantavirus N protein and its efficacy as antigen in immune assays

Braz J Med Biol Res

Associação dos casos de síndrome cardiopulmonar por hantavírus na área de influência da BR 324 com o vírus Laguna Negra

Identificação do vírus Castelo dos Sonhos em roedores Oligoryzomys moojeni em Campo Novo do Parecis

Case report
Evidence of circulation of Laguna Negra-like hantavirus in the Central West of Brazil: Case report