Emerging viruses in Africa: Molecular identification and characterisation of rodent-, shrew-, and bat-borne hantaviruses and assessment of their public health potential

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Detlev H. Krüger
• Subject Area: Virology
• Term: from 2015 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 271325433

• Final Report Year: 2023

Final Report Abstract

Hantaviruses are emerging viruses that cause two life-threatening zoonotic diseases in humans: hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome and cardiopulmonary hantavirus syndrome. The viruses are transmitted from animal reservoirs to humans. Based on our recent discovery of hantaviruses in rodent, shrew, and bat reservoirs in Africa (Sangassou, Tanganya, and Magboi viruses, respectively) and the incidence of human hantavirus infections in Africa, the joint project of German and African partners investigated the biodiversity of hantaviruses and their natural animal reservoirs in western and southern Africa. The biological and genetic characteristics of the newly discovered African hantaviruses were analyzed to assess their relevance to human health and to infer the molecular evolution of hantaviruses in their natural hosts. In addition, specific diagnostic approaches for newly discovered African hantaviruses were developed. Furthermore, bats - in addition to rodents and shrews - were investigated as potential hantavirus hosts. Capacity building could be carried out at different levels: The detection and characterization of hantaviruses and other emerging zoonotic viruses in African laboratories and to develop viral diagnostic and public health expertise on zoonotic infections originating from small mammals.

Publications

• Serological Evidence of Human Hantavirus Infections in Guinea, West Africa. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 201(7), 1031-1034.
  Klempa, Boris; Koivogui, Lamine; Sylla, Oumar; Koulemou, Kekoura; Auste, Brita; Krüger, Detlev H. & ter Meulen, Jan
  
• Bats host major mammalian paramyxoviruses. Nature Communications, 3(1).
  Drexler, Jan Felix; Corman, Victor Max; Müller, Marcel Alexander; Maganga, Gael Darren; Vallo, Peter; Binger, Tabea; Gloza-Rausch, Florian; Cottontail, Veronika M.; Rasche, Andrea; Yordanov, Stoian; Seebens, Antje; Knörnschild, Mirjam; Oppong, Samuel; Sarkodie, Yaw Adu; Pongombo, Célestin; Lukashev, Alexander N.; Schmidt-Chanasit, Jonas; Stöcker, Andreas; Carneiro, Aroldo José Borges ... & Drosten, Christian
  
• Hantavirus in Bat, Sierra Leone. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 18(1), 159-161.
  Weiss, Sabrina; Witkowski, Peter T.; Auste, Brita; Nowak, Kathrin; Weber, Natalie; Fahr, Jakob; Mombouli, Jean-Vivien; Wolfe, Nathan D.; Drexler, Jan Felix; Drosten, Christian; Klempa, Boris; Leendertz, Fabian H. & Kruger, Detlev H.
  
• Sangassou Virus, the First Hantavirus Isolate from Africa, Displays Genetic and Functional Properties Distinct from Those of Other Murinae-Associated Hantaviruses. Journal of Virology, 86(7), 3819-3827.
  Klempa, Boris; Witkowski, Peter T.; Popugaeva, Elena; Auste, Brita; Koivogui, Lamine; Fichet-Calvet, Elisabeth; Strecker, Thomas; ter Meulen, Jan & Krüger, Detlev H.
  
• Seroepidemiological study reveals regional co‐occurrence of Lassa‐ and Hantavirus antibodies in Upper Guinea, West Africa. Tropical Medicine & International Health, 18(3), 366-371.
  Klempa, Boris; Koulemou, Kekoura; Auste, Brita; Emmerich, Petra; Thomé‐Bolduan, Corinna; Günther, Stephan; Koivogui, Lamine; Krüger, Detlev H. & Fichet‐Calvet, Elisabeth
  
• Close Relative of Human Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus in Bat, South Africa. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 19(10), 1697-1699.
  Ithete, Ndapewa Laudika; Stoffberg, Samantha; Corman, Victor Max; Cottontail, Veronika M.; Richards, Leigh Rosanne; Schoeman, M. Corrie; Drosten, Christian; Drexler, Jan Felix & Preiser, Wolfgang
  
• Evidence for Novel Hepaciviruses in Rodents. PLoS Pathogens, 9(6), e1003438.
  Drexler, Jan Felix; Corman, Victor Max; Müller, Marcel Alexander; Lukashev, Alexander N.; Gmyl, Anatoly; Coutard, Bruno; Adam, Alexander; Ritz, Daniel; Leijten, Lonneke M.; van Riel, Debby; Kallies, Rene; Klose, Stefan M.; Gloza-Rausch, Florian; Binger, Tabea; Annan, Augustina; Adu-Sarkodie, Yaw; Oppong, Samuel; Bourgarel, Mathieu; Rupp, Daniel ... & Drosten, Christian
  
• Hantaviruses in Africa. Virus Research, 187, 34-42.
  Witkowski, Peter T.; Klempa, Boris; Ithete, Ndapewa L.; Auste, Brita; Mfune, John K.E.; Hoveka, Julia; Matthee, Sonja; Preiser, Wolfgang & Kruger, Detlev H.
  
• Hantaviruses—Globally emerging pathogens. Journal of Clinical Virology, 64, 128-136.
  Kruger, Detlev H.; Figueiredo, Luiz Tadeu Moraes; Song, Jin-Won & Klempa, Boris
  
• Human seroprevalence indicating hantavirus infections in tropical rainforests of Côte d’Ivoire and Democratic Republic of Congo. Frontiers in Microbiology, 6.
  Witkowski, Peter T.; Leendertz, Siv A. J.; Auste, Brita; Akoua-Koffi, Chantal; Schubert, Grit; Klempa, Boris; Muyembe-Tamfum, Jean-Jacques; Karhemere, Stomy; Leendertz, Fabian H. & Krüger, Detlev H.
  
• Lassa Virus in Multimammate Rats, Côte d’Ivoire, 2013. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 21(8), 1481-1483.
  Kouadio, Leonce; Nowak, Kathrin; Akoua-Koffi, Chantal; Weiss, Sabrina; Allali, Bernard K.; Witkowski, Peter T.; Krüger, Detlev H.; Couacy-Hymann, Emmanuel; Calvignac-Spencer, Sébastien & Leendertz, Fabian H.
  
• Molekulare Identifikation von Hantaviren in neuen Wirten. BIOspektrum, 21(5), 503-506.
  Witkowski, Peter T.; Heinemann, Patrick; Klempa, Boris & Krüger, Detlev H.
  
• Novel Arenavirus Isolates from Namaqua Rock Mice, Namibia, Southern Africa. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 21(7), 1213-1216.
  Witkowski, Peter T.; Kallies, René; Hoveka, Julia; Auste, Brita; Ithete, Ndapewa L.; Šoltys, Katarína; Szemes, Tomáš; Drosten, Christian; Preiser, Wolfgang; Klempa, Boris; Mfune, John K.E. & Kruger, Detlev H.
  
• Human Infections by Non–Rodent-Associated Hantaviruses in Africa. Journal of Infectious Diseases, 214(10), 1507–1511.
  Heinemann, Patrick; Tia, Mélanie; Alabi, Abraham; Anon, Jean-Claude; Auste, Brita; Essbauer, Sandra; Gnionsahe, Apollinaire; Kigninlman, Holo; Klempa, Boris; Kraef, Christian; Kruger, Nadine; Leendertz, Fabian H.; Ndhatz-Sanogo, Méliane; Schaumburg, Frieder; Witkowski, Peter T.; Akoua-Koffi, Chantal G. & Kruger, Detlev H.
  
• Meeting report: Tenth International Conference on Hantaviruses. Antiviral Research, 133, 234-241.
  Papa, Anna; Vaheri, Antti; LeDuc, James W.; Krüger, Detlev H.; Avšič-Županc, Tatjana; Arikawa, Jiro; Song, Jin-Won; Markotić, Alemka; Clement, Jan; Liang, Mifang; Li, Dexin; Yashina, Liudmila N.; Jonsson, Colleen B. & Schmaljohn, Connie S.
  
• Phylogenetic analysis of a newfound bat-borne hantavirus supports a laurasiatherian host association for ancestral mammalian hantaviruses. Infection, Genetics and Evolution, 41, 113-119.
  Witkowski, Peter T.; Drexler, Jan F.; Kallies, René; Ličková, Martina; Bokorová, Silvia; Mananga, Gael D.; Szemes, Tomáš; Leroy, Eric M.; Krüger, Detlev H.; Drosten, Christian & Klempa, Boris
  
• Detection of possible spillover of a novel hantavirus in a Natal mastomys from Guinea. Virus Genes, 56(1), 95-98.
  Kouadio, Léonce; Nowak, Kathrin; Couacy-Hymann, Emmanuel; Akoua-Koffi, Chantal; Düx, Ariane; Zimmermann, Fee; Allali, Bernard K.; Kourouma, Laye; Bangoura, Karim; Koendgen, Sophie; Witkowski, Peter T.; Krüger, Detlev H.; Calvignac-Spencer, Sébastien & Leendertz, Fabian H.
  
• Meeting report: Eleventh International Conference on Hantaviruses. Antiviral Research, 176, 104733.
  Clement, Jan; Ahlm, Clas; Avšič-Županc, Tatjana; Botten, Jason; Chandran, Kartik; Jonsson, Colleen B.; Kariwa, Hiroaki; Klingström, Jonas; Klempa, Boris; Krüger, Detlev H.; Leirs, Herwig; Li, Dexin; Liang, Mifang; Markotić, Alemka; Papa, Anna; Schmaljohn, Connie S.; Tischler, Nicole D.; Ulrich, Rainer G.; Vaheri, Antti ... & Maes, Piet
  
• Multiple DNA viruses identified in multimammate mouse (Mastomys natalensis) populations from across regions of sub-Saharan Africa. Archives of Virology, 165(10), 2291-2299.
  Calvignac-Spencer, Sébastien; Kouadio, Léonce; Couacy-Hymann, Emmanuel; Sogoba, Nafomon; Rosenke, Kyle; Davison, Andrew J.; Leendertz, Fabian; Jarvis, Michael A.; Feldmann, Heinz & Ehlers, Bernhard
  
• Role of Wildlife in Emergence of Ebola Virus in Kaigbono (Likati), Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2017. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 26(9), 2205-2209.
  Gryseels, Sophie; Mbala-Kingebeni, Placide; Akonda, Innocent; Angoyo, Roger; Ayouba, Ahidjo; Baelo, Pascal; Mukadi, Daniel Bamuleka; Bugentho, Elie; Bushmaker, Trenton; Butel, Christelle; Calvignac-Spencer, Sébastien; Delaporte, Eric; De Smet, Birgit; Düx, Ariane; Edidi-Atani, François; Fischer, Robert; Kahandi, Corneille; Kapetshi, Jimmy; Sumba, Servet Kimbonza ... & Ahuka-Mundeke, Steve
  
• Kiwira Virus, a Newfound Hantavirus Discovered in Free-tailed Bats (Molossidae) in East and Central Africa. Viruses, 14(11), 2368.
  Weiss, Sabrina; Sudi, Lwitiho E.; Düx, Ariane; Mangu, Chacha D.; Ntinginya, Nyanda Elias; Shirima, Gabriel M.; Köndgen, Sophie; Schubert, Grit; Witkowski, Peter T.; Muyembe, Jean-Jacques; Ahuka, Steve; Klempa, Boris; Leendertz, Fabian H. & Krüger, Detlev H.