Tracing Transmission of Sin Nombre Virus and Discovery of Infection in Multiple Rodent Species
Goodfellow, Samuel M, Nofchissey, Robert A, Schwalm, Kurt C, Cook, Joseph A, Dunnum, Jonathan L, Guo, Yan, Ye, Chunyan, Mertz, Gregory J, Chandran, Kartik, Harkins, Michelle, Domman, Daryl B, Dinwiddie, Darrell L, Bradfute, Steven B
Abstract
Sin Nombre orthohantavirus (SNV), a negative-sense, single-stranded RNA virus that is carried and transmitted by the North American deer mouse Peromyscus maniculatus, can cause infection in humans through inhalation of aerosolized excreta from infected rodents. This infection can lead to hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS), which has an ∼36% case-fatality rate. We used reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) to confirm SNV infection in a patient and identified SNV in lung tissues in wild-caught rodents from potential sites of exposure. Using viral whole-genome sequencing (WGS), we identified the likely site of transmission and discovered SNV in multiple rodent species not previously known to carry the virus. Here, we report, for the first time, the use of SNV WGS to pinpoint a likely site of human infection and identify SNV simultaneously in multiple rodent species in an area of known host-to-human transmission. These results will impact epidemiology and infection control for hantaviruses by tracing zoonotic transmission and investigating possible novel host reservoirs.