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Prediction of the Spatial Origin of Puumala Virus Infections Using L Segment Sequences Derived from a Generic
Sabrina Weiss1, Boris Klempa2,3, Beate Tenner2
1Institute of Virology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, 10117 Berlin, Germany. Sabrina.weiss@charite.de.
Abstract:
To screen diagnostic specimens for the presence of hantavirus genomes or to identify new hantaviruses in nature, the pan-hanta L-PCR assay, a broadly reactive nested reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay targeting the L segment, is highly preferred over other assays because of its universality and high sensitivity. In contrast, the geographic allocation of Puumala virus strains to defined outbreak regions in Germany was previously done based on S segment sequences. We show that the routinely generated partial L segment sequences resulting from the pan-hanta L-PCR assay provide sufficient phylogenetic signal to inform the molecular epidemiology of the Puumala virus. Consequently, an additional S segment analysis seems no longer necessary for the identification of the spatial origin of a virus strain.
