Divergent Hantavirus in Somali Shrews (Crocidura somalica) in the Semi-Arid North Rift, Kenya.

ABSTRACT: Hantaviruses are zoonotic rodent-borne viruses that are known to infect humans and cause various symptoms of disease, including hemorrhagic fever with renal and cardiopulmonary syndromes. They have a segmented single-stranded, enveloped, negative-sense RNA genome and are widely distributed. This study aimed to investigate the circulation of rodent-borne hantaviruses in peridomestic rodents and shrews in two semi-arid ecologies within the Kenyan Rift Valley. The small mammals were trapped using baited folding Sherman traps set within and around houses, then they were sedated and euthanatized through cervical dislocation before collecting blood and tissue samples (liver, kidney, spleen, and lungs). Tissue samples were screened with pan-hantavirus PCR primers, targeting the large genome segme

SUBMITTER: Omoga DCA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10221196 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature