Paramyxoviruses in Rodents: A Review

Abstract

Paramyxoviruses have been shown to infect a wide range of hosts, including rodents, and humans. Several novel murine paramyxoviruses have been discovered in the last several decades. Although these viruses are unclassified, they are recognised as Beilong virus, Mojiang virus, and Tailam virus in rats, Jeilongvirus, Nariva, Novel Paju Apodemus paramyxovirus -1 and -2 (PAPV-1 and PAPV-2) in mice, and Pentlands paramyxovirus (PenPV) -1, -2, and -3 in squirrels. These paramyxoviruses were reported mainly in China and a few other countries like Australia, the Republic of Korea, Trinidad, and France. The classified paramyxovirus, Sendai virus in rodents was also reviewed. Paramyxoviruses infection in rodents leads to respiratory distress such as necrotizing rhinitis, tracheitis, bronchiolitis, and interstitial pneumonia. Infections caused by paramyxoviruses often spread between species, manifesting disease in spillover hosts, including humans. In June 2012, it becomes a great concern in China whereby, three miners were reported dead potentially caused by a novel zoonotic Mojiang virus, a henipa-like virus isolated from tissues samples of rats from the same cave. Rats are considered to be natural hosts for the Mojiang virus from the literature research. This review focuses on the paramyxoviruses in rodents, including the epidemiological distributions, transmission and pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, diagnostic methods, and control and prevention of paramyxoviruses infection to provide a better understanding of these highly mutating viruses.