In 2012, Tigray orthohantavirus was discovered in Ethiopia, but its seasonal infection in small mammals, and whether it poses a risk to humans was unknown. The occurrence of small mammals, rodents and shrews, in human inhabitations in northern Ethiopia is affected by season and presence of stone bunds. We sampled small mammals in two seasons from low- and high-density stone bund fields adjacent to houses and community-protected semi-natural habitats in Atsbi and Hagere Selam, where Tigray orthohantavirus was first discovered. We collected blood samples from both small mammals and residents using filter paper. The presence of orthohantavirus-reactive antibodies in blood was then analyzed using immunofluorescence assay (human samples) and enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (small mammal samples) with Puumala orthohantavirus as antigen. Viral RNA was detected by RT-PCR using small mammal blood samples. Total orthohantavirus prevalence (antibodies or virus RNA) in the small mammals was 3.37%. The positive animals were three Stenocephalemys albipes rats (prevalence in this species = 13.04%). The low prevalence made it impossible to determine whether season and stone bunds were associated with orthohantavirus prevalence in the small mammals. In humans, we report the first detection of orthohantavirus-reactive IgG antibodies in Ethiopia (seroprevalence = 5.26%). S. albipes lives in close proximity to humans, likely increasing the risk of zoonotic transmission.

College Health Sciences Mekelle University Mekelle P O Box 231 Ethiopia

Department of Biology Mekelle University Mekelle P O Box 3102 Ethiopia

Department of Clinical Microbiology Virology Umeå University 901 85 Umeå Sweden

Department of Epidemiology and Global Health Umeå University 901 85 Umeå Sweden

Department of Wildlife Fish and Environmental Studies Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences 901 83 Umeå Sweden

Department of Zoology and Fisheries Faculty of Agrobiology Food and Natural Resources Czech University of Life Sciences Prague 165 21 Prague Czech Republic

Evolutionary Ecology Group University of Antwerp 2610 Wilrijk Belgium

Institute of Mountain Research and Development Mekelle University Mekelle P O Box 231 Ethiopia

Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the Czech Academy of Sciences 603 65 Brno Czech Republic

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Schmaljohn C., Hjelle B. Hantaviruses: A global disease problem. Emerg. Infect. Dis. 1997;3:95–104. doi: 10.3201/eid0302.970202. PubMed DOI PMC

Rasmuson J., Andersson C., Norrman E., Haney M., Evander M., Ahlm C. Time to revise the paradigm of hantavirus syndromes? Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome caused by European hantavirus. Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 2011;30:685–690. doi: 10.1007/s10096-010-1141-6. PubMed DOI PMC

Clement J., Maes P., Van Ranst M. Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in the new, and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in the old world: Paradi(se)gm lost or regained? Virus Res. 2014;187:55–58. doi: 10.1016/j.virusres.2013.12.036. PubMed DOI

Clement J., LeDuc J.W., Lloyd G., Reynes J.M., McElhinney L., Van Ranst M., Lee H.W. Wild rats, laboratory rats, pet rats: Global Seoul hantavirus disease revisited. Viruses. 2019;11:652. doi: 10.3390/v11070652. PubMed DOI PMC

Klempa B., Fichet-Calvet E., Lecompte E., Auste B., Aniskin V., Meisel H., Denys C., Koivogui L., ter Meulen J., Krüger D.H. Comments to Author. Hantavirus in African Wood Mouse, Guinea. Emerg. Infect. Dis. 2006;12:838–840. doi: 10.3201/eid1205.051487. PubMed DOI PMC

Diagne M.M., Dieng I., Granjon L., Lucaccioni H., Sow A., Ndiaye O., Faye M., Bâ K., Bâ Y., Diallo M., et al. Seoul Orthohantavirus in Wild Black Rats, Senegal, 2012–2013. Emerg. Infect. Dis. 2020;10:2460–2464. doi: 10.3201/eid2610.201306. PubMed DOI PMC

Meheretu Y., Čížková D., Tĕšíková J., Welegerima K., Tomas Z., Kidane D., Girmay K., Schmidt-Chanasit J., Bryja J., Günther S., et al. High Diversity of RNA Viruses in Rodents, Ethiopia. Emerg. Infect. Dis. 2012;18:2047–2050. doi: 10.3201/eid1812.120596. PubMed DOI PMC

Klempa B., Koivogui L., Sylla O., Koulemou K., Auste B., Krüger D.H., ter Meulen J. Serological Evidence of Human Hantavirus Infections in Guinea, West Africa. J. Infect. Dis. 2010;201:1031–1034. doi: 10.1086/651169. PubMed DOI

Klempa B., Koulemou K., Auste B., Emmerich P., Thomé-Bolduan C., Günther S., Koivogui L., Krüger D.H., Fichet-Calvet E. Seroepidemiological study reveals regional co-occurrence of Lassa- and Hantavirus antibodies in Upper Guinea, West Africa. Trop. Med. Int. Health. 2013;18:366–371. doi: 10.1111/tmi.12045. PubMed DOI

Witkowski P.T., Klempa B., Ithete N.L., Auste B., Mfune J.K.E., Hoveka J., Matthee S., Preiser W., Krugera D.H. Hantaviruses in Africa. Virus Res. 2014;187:34–42. doi: 10.1016/j.virusres.2013.12.039. PubMed DOI

Hoffinger D.M., Nofchissey R., Jacobson M., Goade D. Serological survey of hantavirus in adult humans living in Tanzania. Investig. Med. 2006;54:S156. doi: 10.2310/6650.2005.X0004.442. DOI

Heinemann P., Tia M., Alabi A., Anon J.C., Auste B., Essbauer S., Gnionsahe A., Kigninlman H., Klempa B., Kraef C., et al. Human Infections by Non-Rodent Associated Hantaviruses in Africa. J. Infect. Dis. 2016;214:1507–1511. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiw401. PubMed DOI

Bennett S.N., Gu S.H., Kang H.J., Arai S., Yanagihara R. Reconstructing the evolutionary origins and phylogeography of hantaviruses. Trends Microbiol. 2014;22:473–482. doi: 10.1016/j.tim.2014.04.008. PubMed DOI PMC

Těšíková J., Bryjová A., Bryja J., Lavrenchenko L.A., Goüy de Bellocq J. Hantavirus Strains in East Africa Related to Western African Hantaviruses. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2017;17:278–280. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2016.2022. PubMed DOI

Meheretu Y., Stanley W.T., Craig E.W., Goüy de Bellocq J., Bryja J., Leirs L., Pahlmann M., Günther S. Tigray Orthohantavirus Infects Two Related Rodent Species Adapted to Different Elevations in Ethiopia. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2019;19:950–953. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2019.2452. PubMed DOI PMC

Krüger D.H., Ulrich R., Lundkvist Å. Hantavirus infections and their prevention. Microbes Infect. 2001;3:1129–1144. doi: 10.1016/S1286-4579(01)01474-5. PubMed DOI

Alonso D.O., Pérez-Sautu U., Bellomo C.M., Prieto K., Iglesias A., Coelho R., Periolo N., Domenech I., Talmon G., Hansen R., et al. Person-to-person transmission of andes virus in hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, Argentina, 2014. Emerg. Infect. Dis. 2020;26:756. doi: 10.3201/eid2604.190799. PubMed DOI PMC

Lloyd-Smith J.O., George D., Pepin K.M., Pitzer V.E., Pulliam J.R.C., Dobson A.P., Hudson P.J., Grenfell B.T. Epidemic Dynamics at the Human-Animal Interface. Science. 2009;326:1362–1367. doi: 10.1126/science.1177345. PubMed DOI PMC

Khalil H., Hörnfeldt B., Evander M., Magnusson M., Olsson G., Ecke F. Dynamics and Drivers of Hantavirus Prevalence in Rodent Populations. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2014;14:537–551. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2013.1562. PubMed DOI

Khalil H., Ecke F., Evander M., Magnusson M., Hörnfeldt B. Declining ecosystem health and the dilution effect. Sci. Rep. 2016;6:31314. doi: 10.1038/srep31314. PubMed DOI PMC

Goeijenbier M., Wagenaar J., Goris M., Martina B., Henttonen H., Vaheri A., Reusken C., Hartskeerl R., Osterhaus A., Van Gorp E. Rodent-borne hemorrhagic fevers: Under recognized; widely spread and preventable epidemiology, diagnostics and treatment. Crit. Rev. Microbiol. 2013;39:26–42. doi: 10.3109/1040841X.2012.686481. PubMed DOI

Meheretu Y., Leirs H., Welegerima K., Breno M., Tomas Z., Kidane D., Girmay K., Goüy de Bellocq J. Bartonella Prevalence and Genetic Diversity in Small Mammals from Ethiopia. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2013;13:164–175. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2012.1004. PubMed DOI

Welegerima K., Meheretu Y., Haileselassie T.H., Gebre B., Kidane D., Massawe A.W., Mbije N.E., Makundi R.H. Abundance and microhabitat use of rodent species in crop fields and bushland in Ethiopia. J. Vertebr. Biol. 2020;69:20054. doi: 10.25225/jvb.20054. DOI

Goüy de Bellocq J., Těšíková J., Meheretu Y., Čížková D., Bryjová A., Leirs L., Bryja B. Complete genome characterisation and phylogenetic position of Tigray hantavirus from the Ethiopian white-footed mouse, Stenocephalemys albipes. Infect. Genet. Evol. 2016;45:242–245. doi: 10.1016/j.meegid.2016.09.009. PubMed DOI

Bryja J., Kostin D., Meheretu Y., Šumbera R., Bryjová A., Kasso M., Mikula O., Lavrenchenko L.A. Reticulate Pleistocene evolution of Ethiopian rodent genus along remarkable altitudinal gradient. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 2018;118:75–87. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2017.09.020. PubMed DOI

Mizerovská D., Mikula O., Meheretu Y., Bartáková V., Bryjová A., Kostin D.S., Šumbera R., Lavrenchenko L.A., Bryja J. Integrative taxonomic revision of the Ethiopian endemic rodent genus Stenocephalemys (Muridae: Murinae: Praomyini) with the description of two new species. J. Vertebr. Biol. 2020;69:20031. doi: 10.25225/jvb.20031. DOI

Meheretu Y., Sluydts V., Welegerima K., Bauer H., Teferi M., Yirga G., Mulungu L., Haile M., Nyssen J., Deckers J., et al. Rodent abundance, stone bund density and its effects on crop damage in the Tigray highlands, Ethiopia. Crop Prot. 2014;55:61–67. doi: 10.1016/j.cropro.2013.10.016. DOI

Vancampenhout K., Nyssen J., Gebremichael D., Deckers J., Poesen J., Haile M., Moeyersons J. Stone bunds for soil conservation in the northern Ethiopian highlands: Impacts on soil fertility and crop yield. Soil Tillage Res. 2006;90:1–15. doi: 10.1016/j.still.2005.08.004. DOI

Mekuria W., Veldkamp E., Haile M., Gebrehiwot K., Muys B., Nyssen J. Effectiveness of exclosures to control soil erosion and local community perception on soil erosion in Tigray, Ethiopia. Afr. J. Agric. Res. 2009;4:365–377.

Wilson D.E., Lacher T.E., Mittermeier R.A., editors. Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 7. Rodents II; Lynx Editions; Barcelona, Spain: 2017. p. 1008.

Bryja J., Meheretu Y., Šumbera R., Lavrenchenko L.A. Annotated checklist, taxonomy and distribution of rodents in Ethiopia. Folia Zool. 2019;68:117–157. doi: 10.25225/fozo.030.2019. DOI

Lindkvist M., Näslund J., Ahlm C., Bucht G. Cross-reactive and serospecific epitopes of nucleocapsid proteins of three hantaviruses: Prospects for new diagnostic tools. Virus Res. 2008;137:97–105. doi: 10.1016/j.virusres.2008.06.003. PubMed DOI

Evander M., Eriksson I., Pettersson L., Juto P., Ahlm C., Olsson G.E., Bucht G., Allard A. Puumala hantavirus viremia diagnosed by real-time reverse transcriptase PCR using samples from patients with hemorrhagic fever and renal syndrome. J. Clin. Microbiol. 2007;45:2491–2497. doi: 10.1128/JCM.01902-06. PubMed DOI PMC

Meheretu Y., Welegerima K., Deckers S., Raes D., Makundi R., Leirs H. Farmers’ perspectives of rodent damage and management from the highlands of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. Crop Prot. 2010;29:532–539.

Bergstedt Oscarsson K., Brorstad A., Baudin M., Lindberg A., Forssén A., Evander M., Eriksson M., Ahlm C. Human Puumala hantavirus infection in northern Sweden; increased seroprevalence and association to risk and health factors. BMC Infect. Dis. 2016;16:566. doi: 10.1186/s12879-016-1879-2. PubMed DOI PMC

Wube T., Bekele A. Habitat preference of the African grass rat, Arvicanthis dembeensis (Rodentia, Muridae), in Koka, Central Ethiopia. In: Denys C., Granjon L., Poulet A., editors. Proceedings of the 8th African Small Mammals Symposium; Paris, France. 5–9 July 1999; Paris, France: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) Editions; 2001. pp. 499–510.

Meheretu Y., Fanos A., Dawit K., Kiros W. Stored-grain losses and management practices among smallholder cereal farmers in Northern Ethiopia. Int. J. Pest Manag. 2020 doi: 10.1080/09670874.2020.1795301. DOI