A fatal case of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in Kursk Region, Russia, caused by a novel Puumala virus clade

• Published in: Infection, genetics and evolution Vol. 102; p. 105295
• Main Authors: Blinova, Ekaterina, Deviatkin, Andrei, Kurashova, Svetlana, Balovneva, Maria, Volgina, Irina, Valdokhina, Anna, Bulanenko, Victoria, Popova, Yulia, Belyakova, Alla, Dzagurova, Tamara
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.08.2022
• Subjects: Bank vole; Hantaviruses; HFRS; Lineage; PUUV; Recombination; Bank vole; Recombination; PUUV; Hantaviruses; IFA; UFBoot; RT-PCR; Lineage; HFRS; ELISA
• ISSN: 1567-1348; 1567-7257
• DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2022.105295

Haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) is the most widespread natural-focal human disease in the Russian Federation. In this study, we report virological assessment of a fatal case of HFRS-PUUV (Puumala virus) in the Kursk Region. The infection caused severe multiorgan failure and the maximum viral load was detected in the tissue of the spleen. Viral sequences were obtained from the patient's autopsy material and lung tissues of bank voles captured in the region. These sequences formed a new clade in the PUUV phylogenetic tree, an outgroup to all known Russian (RUS) lineage sequences. On the other hand viruses collected in the Kursk Region grouped with the RUS lineage and are separated from all other PUUV linages. We propose to nominate this novel group as W-RUS as the identified viruses were collected near the western Russian boundary. The recombination signals between their ancestors and RUS lineage representatives from the Volga region were revealed. The strain Samara_94/CG/2005 suggestively emerged as the result of reassortment between the ancestors of W-RUS and DTK-Ufa-97. •The fatal human case of HFRS-PUUV with multiorgan failure was registred.•Maximal viral load was found in the spleen.•We have discovered new PUUV clade designated as W-RUS.•The recombination event between the ancestors of viruses from this study and RUS lineage representatives was suggested.