Study On The Infection Of A Species Of Arenavirus In Hosts And Patients With Fever In Yunnan Province,China

Obiective: To understand the epidemic situation of mammarenavirusand and the mammarenavirus associated with human diseases in Yunna Province,China.To provide scientific guidance for control and prevention of mammarenavirus and the related diseases.Methods: With the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase(RdRp)region of the mammarevirus was amplified by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR).Then the nucleocapsid protein of the virus was expressed by eukaryotic,Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)were used to screen the patient serum samples with fever of unknown origin(FUO),and the positive serum samples were tested by Western blot(WB)and pseudovirions neutralization antibody test(PNT).Results: In this survey,2153 small mammals were collected in 16 Counties(Cities and Districts)of 9 Prefectures(Cities)in Yunnan Province from 2016 to 2018 and the positive rate of arenavirus was 1.9%(41/2153),of which 9.0%(38/422)was Rattus norvegicus,0.3%(2/633)was Rattus tanezumi and 6.7%(1/15)was Apodemus latronum.The detected arenavirus is a branch of Wenzhou virus(WENV)in Yunnan Province,with the identities from 86.7-87.0% for the L segment and 81.7-92.3% for the S segment respectively at the nucleotides level.The infected areas were Yuanmou County,Luxi County,Yiliang County and Deqin County.It was detected that a total of 828 patient serum samples with FUO in Yunnan Province and the positive rate of Immunoglobulin G(IgG),against WENV was 2.7%(22/828)by ELISA,further screened in the 22 positive samples,the five IgGs of WENV were deteted by WB and the four neutralizing antibodies were tested by PNT.Conclusions: The host animals infected with WENV are Rattus norvegicus,Rattus tanezumi and Apodemus latronum.But Rattus norvegicus is the main host.WENV infection was first confirmed in patients with FUO in Yunnan Province.It is necessary to further study the epidemic situation of WENV and the related human diseases in Yunnan Province,China.