First report of a Risso’s dolphin (
Grampus griseus
) stranded in Jeju Island, Republic of Korea: findings from necropsy, histopathology and microbiome analysis
Background
Orthohantaviruses, causing hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome, pose a significant public health threat worldwide. Despite the significant mortality and morbidity, effective antiviral therapeutics or vaccines for orthohantavirus infections are currently unavailable. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of HFRS-associated orthohantaviruses and identify the etiological agent of orthohantavirus outbreaks in southern Republic of Korea (ROK).
Methodology/Principal findings
We collected small mammals on Jeju Island during 2018–2020. We detected the Hantaan virus (HTNV)-specific antibodies and RNA using an indirect immunofluorescence assay test and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction on Apodemus agrarius chejuensis (A. chejuensis). The prevalence of anti-HTNV antibodies among rodents was 14.1%. A total of six seropositive mice harbored HTNV RNA. The amplicon-based next-generation sequencing provided nearly full-length tripartite genomic sequences of six HTNV harbored by A. chejuensis. Phylogenetic and tanglegram analyses were conducted for inferring evolutionary relationships between orthohantaviruses with their reservoir hosts. Phylogenetic analyses identified a novel distinct HTNV genotype. The detected HTNV genomic sequences were phylogenetically related to a viral sequence derived from HFRS patient in southern ROK. Tanglegram analysis demonstrated the segregation of HTNV genotypes corresponding to Apodemus spp. divergence.
Conclusions/Significance
Our results suggest that A. chejuensis-borne HTNV may be a potential etiological agent of HFRS in southern ROK. Ancestral HTNV may infect A. chejuensis prior to geological isolation between the Korean peninsula and Jeju Island, supporting the co-evolution of orthohantaviruses and rodents. This study arises awareness among physicians for HFRS outbreaks in southern ROK.
In this paper we report the first confirmed sighting of chestnut-flanked white-eye Zosterops erythropleurus (Swinhoe, 1863) from Mizoram and first photographic report from India. chestnut-flanked white-eye belongs to the family Zosteropidae and is a resident of Cambodia, China, Hongkong, Korea, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Laos, Myanmar, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam. In the Indian Sub-continent this is the only sighting report for this species and details of sightings and habitat are discussed.
A novel actinomycete, strain N3-2T, was isolated from a natural cave on Jeju Island, Republic of Korea, using a dilution method and was subjected to polyphasic taxonomy. The almost complete 16S rRNA gene sequence was determined by direct sequencing of the purified PCR product and was compared with those of representatives of the genus Nocardia. It was revealed from the phylogenetic analysis that the organism forms a distinct clade between the Nocardia salmonicida cluster and the Nocardia alba branch within the evolutionary radius occupied by the genus Nocardia of the family Nocardiaceae. The organism showed 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of 97·4 % with its nearest phylogenetic neighbours, namely N. salmonicida and N. alba. The chemotaxonomic properties, such as the principal amino acid of peptidoglycan, predominant menaquinone and polar lipids, supported the classification in the genus Nocardia. The organism was readily differentiated from Nocardia species with validly published names by a broad set of phenotypic properties and its unique phylogenetic position; the name Nocardia jejuensis sp. nov. is proposed, with N3-2T (=JCM 13281T=NRRL B-24430T) as the type strain.
A novel genotype of Hantaan orthohantavirus harbored by Apodemus agrarius chejuensis as a potential etiologic agent of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in Republic of Korea