Identification of Distinct Rodent-Associated Adenovirus Lineages from Mixed-Use Landscape

Land-use change and increased human-livestock-wildlife interactions have generated numerous possibilities for viral spillover, demanding enhanced surveillance in biodiverse regions. We investigated adenovirus diversity in small mammals, an understudied host taxon, from a forest-plantation mosaic in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot. We observed high prevalence (up to 39.39%) and identified five lineages of adenoviruses with unique mutations in the dominant small mammal species, Rattus satarae. These lineages significantly differed from other known murine adenoviruses (p-distance > 25%), indicating the likelihood of novel adenoviruses in this endemic small mammal and suggesting potential for unexplored DNA virus diversity in the region.