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Publications (45)
The natural reservoirs of the nosocomial pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii are not well defined. We previously identified white storks as a model system to study the ecology of A. baumannii . Having screened more than 1,300 white stork nestlings over a period of six years across different regions of Poland and Germany (overall isolation rate of ∼29....
A cluster of 3 persons in Germany experienced hantavirus disease with renal insufficiency. Reverse transcription PCR-based genotyping revealed infection by Seoul hantavirus transmitted from pet rats. Seoul virus could be responsible for disease clusters in Europe, and infected pet rats should be considered a health threat.
Rodents are important reservoirs for zoonotic pathogens that cause diseases in humans. Biodiversity is hypothesized to be closely related to pathogen prevalence through multiple direct and indirect pathways. For example, the presence of non‐host species can reduce contact rates of the main reservoir host and thus reduce the risk of transmission (“d...
Zusammenfassung
COVID-19-Pandemie und gehäuftes Auftreten von Mpox-Erkrankungen (Affenpocken) außerhalb Afrikas haben die Verletzlichkeit der Bevölkerung für aus dem Tierreich stammende Krankheitserreger deutlich werden lassen. Darüber hinaus haben in den vergangenen Jahren weitere virale Zoonoseerreger an Bedeutung gewonnen.
Der vorliegende Übersi...
In Europe, most cases of human hantavirus disease are caused by Puumala orthohantavirus (PUUV) transmitted by bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus, syn. Myodes glareolus), in which PUUV causes inconspicuous infection. Little is known about tropism and endoparasite coinfections in PUUV-infected reservoir and spillover-infected rodents. Here, we chara...
In Europe, most cases of human hantavirus disease are caused by Puumala orthohantavirus (PUUV) transmitted by bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus, syn. Myodes glareolus), in which PUUV
causes inconspicuous infection. Little is known about tropism and endoparasite coinfections in PUUV-infected reservoir and spillover-infected rodents. Here, we chara...
Seoul orthohantavirus (SEOV) is a rat-associated zoonotic pathogen with an almost worldwide distribution. In 2019, the first autochthonous human case of SEOV-induced hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome was reported in Germany, and a pet rat was identified as the source of the zoonotic infection. To further investigate the SEOV reservoir, addition...
Bat-associated hantaviruses have been detected in Asia, Africa and Europe. Recently, a novel hantavirus (Brno loanvirus, BRNV) was identified in common noctule bats ( Nyctalus noctula ) in the Czech Republic, but nothing is known about its geographical range and prevalence. The objective of this study was to evaluate the distribution and host speci...
Rodentia is the most speciose mammalian order, found across the globe, with some species occurring in close proximity to humans. Furthermore, rodents are known hosts for a variety of zoonotic pathogens. Among other animal species, rodents came into focus when the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spread through human...
Puumala orthohantavirus (PUUV) is the most important hantavirus species in Europe, causing the majority of human hantavirus disease cases. In central and western Europe, the occurrence of human infections is mainly driven by bank vole population dynamics influenced by beech mast. In Germany, hantavirus epidemic years are observed in 2‐ to 5‐year in...
In Europe, zoonotic Leptospira spp. and orthohantaviruses are mainly associated with specific rodent hosts. These pathogens cause febrile human diseases with similar symptoms and disease progression. In Lithuania, the presence of Dobrava‐Belgrade orthohantavirus (DOBV), Tula orthohantavirus (TULV) and Leptospira spp. in rodent reservoirs is still u...
Many people worldwide suffer from hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, which is frequently persistent. The lack of efficient vaccines against HCV and the unavailability of or limited compliance with existing antiviral therapies is problematic for health care systems worldwide. Improved small animal models would support further hepacivirus research, i...
Simple Summary
Leptospirosis is a worldwide emerging zoonotic disease. Clinical symptoms in humans range from mild flu-like symptoms to severe clinical disease with kidney failure and multiple organ dysfunction. Infections occur after contact with infected animals or through water and soil contaminated by urine of infected animals. Cases are mostly...
Text Human cases of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in Europe are mainly caused by Puumala orthohantavirus, Dobrava-Belgrade orthohantavirus and Seoul orthohantavirus. Only few cases were caused by Tula orthohantavirus (TULV) infection. Tatenale orthohantavirus (TATV) is a new orthohantavirus with unknown zoonotic potential, found in field v...
Tula orthohantavirus (TULV) is a rodent-borne hantavirus with broad geographical distribution in Europe. Its major reservoir is the common vole (Microtus arvalis), but TULV has also been detected in closely related vole species. Given the large distributional range and high amplitude population dynamics of common voles, this host–pathogen complex p...
European orthohantaviruses (Puumala orthohantavirus (PUUV); Dobrava-Belgrade orthohantavirus (DOBV), genotype Kurkino; Tula orthohantavirus (TULV)), and Leptospira spp. are small mammal-associated zoonotic pathogens that cause diseases with potentially similar symptoms in humans. We investigated the frequency of Leptospira spp. and hantavirus singl...
The striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius) is known to carry several zoonotic pathogens, including Leptospira spp. and Dobrava-Belgrade orthohantavirus (DOBV). Since its first detection in 1996 in south-east Austria, the striped field mouse has further expanded its range in Austria. Here, we screened 35 striped field mice collected in an Austrian...
Outside Asia, Seoul virus (SEOV) is an underestimated pathogen. In Germany, autochthonous SEOV-associated hantavirus disease has not been unequivocally diagnosed. We found clinical and molecular evidence for SEOV infection in a young woman; her pet rat was the source of infection.
Hantaviruses are zoonotic pathogens that can cause subclinical to lethal infections in humans. In Europe, five orthohantaviruses are present in rodents: Myodes-associated Puumala orthohantavirus (PUUV), Microtus-associated Tula orthohantavirus, Traemmersee hantavirus (TRAV)/ Tatenale hantavirus (TATV)/ Kielder hantavirus, rat-borne Seoul orthohanta...
The S segment of bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus)-associated Puumala orthohantavirus (PUUV) contains two overlapping open reading frames coding for the nucleocapsid (N) and a non-structural (NSs) protein. To identify the influence of bank vole population dynamics on PUUV S segment sequence evolution and test for spillover infections in sympatric...
Puumala orthohantavirus (PUUV) causes most human hantavirus disease cases in Europe. PUUV disease outbreaks are usually synchronized Germany‐wide driven by beech mast‐induced irruptions of its host (bank vole, Myodes glareolus). Recent data indicate high vole abundance, high PUUV prevalence and high human incidence in summer 2019 for some regions,...
Vole-associated hantaviruses occur in the Old and New World. Tula orthohantavirus (TULV) is widely distributed throughout the European continent in its reservoir, the common vole (Microtus arvalis), but the virus was also frequently detected in field voles (Microtus agrestis) and other vole species. TULV and common voles are absent from Great Brita...
Zoonotic diseases are challenging to study from the ecological point of view as, broadly speaking, datasets tend to be either detailed on a small spatial extent, or coarse on a large spatial extent. Also, there are many ways to assess zoonotic disease transmission systems, from pathogens to hosts to humans. We explore the complementarity of dataset...
Puumala virus (PUUV) represents one of the most important hantaviruses in Central Europe. Phylogenetic analyses of PUUV strains indicate a strong genetic structuring of this hantavirus. Recently, PUUV sequences were identified in the natural reservoir, the bank vole (Myodes glareolus), collected in the northern part of Poland. The objective of this...
Introduction:
Leptospirosis is caused by Leptospira spp. and is considered the most widespread zoonotic disease worldwide. It mimics nephropathia epidemica in humans, a disease mainly caused by Puumala hantavirus (PUUV). Small mammals are reservoirs for Leptospira spp. and PUUV. Seewis virus (SWSV) is a shrew-borne hantavirus with unknown pathogen...
Little is known about the presence of human pathogenic Puumala virus (PUUV) in Lithuania. We detected this virus in bank voles (Myodes glareolus) in a region of this country in which previously PUUV-seropositive humans were identified. Our results are consistent with heterogeneous distributions of PUUV in other countries in Europe.
Human hantavirus disease cases, caused by Puumala virus (PUUV), are mainly recorded in western and southern areas of Germany. This bank vole reservoir survey confirmed PUUV presence in these regions but its absence in northern and eastern regions. PUUV occurrence is associated with the presence of the Western bank vole phylogroup.
Additional information on analysis of Puumala virus in bank voles, Lithuania.
Serologic and molecular Puumala virus detection in bank voles from Germany and bank vole evolutionary lineage, and Puumala virus phylogenetic tree reconstructed with novel and published partial small segment sequences.
Rodents are distributed throughout the world and interact with humans in many ways. They provide vital ecosystem services, some species are useful models in biomedical research and some are held as pet animals. However, many rodent species can have adverse effects such as damage to crops and stored produce, and they are of health concern because of...
Endemic regions for Puumala virus (PUUV) are located in the most affected federal state Baden-Wuerttemberg, South-West Germany, where high numbers of notified human hantavirus disease cases have been occurring for a long time. The distribution of human cases in Baden-Wuerttemberg is, however, heterogeneous, with a high number of cases recorded duri...
Puumala virus (PUUV) causes many human infections in large parts of Europe and can lead to mild to moderate disease. The bank vole ( Myodes glareolus ) is the only reservoir of PUUV in Central Europe. A commercial PUUV rapid field test for rodents was validated for bank-vole blood samples collected in two PUUV-endemic regions in Germany (North Rhin...
Tula virus (TULV) is a vole-associated hantavirus with low or no pathogenicity to humans. In the present study, 686 common voles (Microtus arvalis), 249 field voles (Microtus agrestis) and 30 water voles (Arvicola spec.) were collected at 79 sites in Germany, Luxembourg and France and screened by RT-PCR and TULV-IgG ELISA. TULV-specific RNA and/or...
Bank voles can harbour Puumala virus (PUUV) and vole populations usually peak in years after beech mast. A beech mast occurred in 2014 and a predictive model indicates high vole abundance in 2015. This pattern is similar to the years 2009/2011 when beech mast occurred, bank voles multiplied and human PUUV infections increased a year later. Given si...
Many viruses significantly impact human and animal health. Understanding the population dynamics of these viruses and their hosts can provide important insights for epidemiology and virus evolution. Puumala virus (PUUV) is a European hantavirus that may cause regional outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in humans. Here, we analyzed t...
Puumala virus (PUUV) is one of the predominant hantavirus species in Europe causing mild to moderate cases of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome. Parts of Lower Saxony in north-western Germany are endemic for PUUV infections. In this study, the complete PUUV genome sequence of a bank vole-derived tissue sample from the 2007 outbreak was determi...
GenBank Accession Numbers KJ994776-KJ994778 represent the complete genome of Puumala virus isolate Mu/07/1219. ##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##
GenBank Accession Numbers KJ994776-KJ994778 represent the complete genome of Puumala virus isolate Mu/07/1219. ##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##
GenBank Accession Numbers KJ994776-KJ994778 represent the complete genome of Puumala virus isolate Mu/07/1219. ##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##
Puumala virus (PUUV) causes mild to moderate cases of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), and is responsible for the majority of hantavirus infections of humans in Fennoscandia, Central and Western Europe. Although there are relatively many PUUV sequences available from different European countries, little is known about the presence of...
