Potentially Zoonotic Viruses in Wild Rodents, United Arab Emirates, 2019—A Pilot Study

Author:

Weidinger Pia1ORCID,Kolodziejek Jolanta1,Khafaga Tamer2,Loney Tom3ORCID,Howarth Brigitte4,Sher Shah Moayyed2,Abou Tayoun Ahmad56ORCID,Alsheikh-Ali Alawi37ORCID,Camp Jeremy V.8ORCID,Nowotny Norbert13ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Viral Zoonoses, Emerging and Vector-Borne Infections Group, Institute of Virology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, 1210 Vienna, Austria

2. Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, Emirates Group, Dubai P.O. Box 686, United Arab Emirates

3. College of Medicine, Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dubai P.O. Box 505055, United Arab Emirates

4. American University in Dubai, Al Sufouh 2, Dubai P.O. Box 28282, United Arab Emirates

5. Al Jalila Genomics Center of Excellence, Al Jalila Children’s Specialty Hospital, Dubai 7662, United Arab Emirates

6. Center for Genomic Discovery, Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dubai P.O. Box 505055, United Arab Emirates

7. Dubai Health Authority, Dubai P.O. Box 4545, United Arab Emirates

8. Center for Virology, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria

Abstract

The majority of emerging viral infectious diseases in humans originate from wildlife reservoirs, such as rodents and bats. We investigated a possible reservoir, namely wild gerbils and mice trapped in a desert reserve within the emirate of Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). In total, 52 gerbils and 1 jird (Gerbillinae), 10 house mice (Mus musculus), and 1 Arabian spiny mouse (Acomys dimidiatus) were sampled. Oro-pharyngeal swabs, fecal samples, attached ticks, and organ samples (where available) were screened by (RT-q)PCR for the following viruses: Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever orthonairovirus, Alkhumra hemorrhagic fever virus, hantaviruses, Lymphocytic choriomeningitis mammarenavirus, Rustrela virus, poxviruses, flaviviruses, and herpesviruses. All of the samples were negative for all investigated viruses, except for herpesviruses: 19 gerbils (35.8%) and seven house mice (70.0%) were positive. The resulting sequences were only partly identical to sequences in GenBank. Phylogenetic analysis revealed three novel betaherpesviruses and four novel gammaherpesviruses. Interestingly, species identification of the positive gerbils resulted in eight individuals clustering in a separate clade, most closely related to Dipodillus campestris, the North African gerbil, indicating either the expansion of the geographic range of this species, or the existence of a closely related, yet undiscovered species in the UAE. In conclusion, we could not find evidence of persistence or shedding of potentially zoonotic viruses in the investigated rodent cohorts of limited sample size.

Funder

College of Medicine, Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Publisher

MDPI AG

Subject

Virology,Infectious Diseases

Reference60 articles.

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