Volume 27, Number 12—December 2021
Research
Mammarenaviruses of Rodents, South Africa and Zimbabwe
Antoinette A. Grobbelaar, Jocelyn Jardine1, Felicity J. Burt2, Alasdair J. Shepherd, Susan P. Shepherd, Patricia A. Leman, Alan Kemp, Lawrence E.O. Braack3, Jacqueline Weyer
, Janusz T. Paweska, and Robert Swanepoel3
, Janusz T. Paweska, and Robert Swanepoel3
Table 3
Summary of rodent samples, serologic test results, and virus isolation studies in study of mammarenaviruses, South Africa and Zimbabwe*
| Rodent species scientific name |
Rodent species common name |
Mammarenavirus IF antibody tests |
Mammarenavirus isolation attempts |
||||||
| Tested |
No. (%) positive |
Titer range (GMT) |
Serum samples |
Organs |
Total |
Isolations |
|||
| Aethomys chrysophilus | Red veld rat | 135 | 10 (7.4) | 8–4,096 (207.8) | 23 | 75 | 77 | 1 | |
| A. ineptus |
Tete veld rat |
103 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
| Dasymys incomtus |
Water rat |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
||
| Dendromus melanotis |
Grey climbing mouse |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
||
| Desmodillus auricularis |
Short-tailed gerbil |
69 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
||
| Gerbilliscus afra | Cape gerbil | 26 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 13 | 0 | ||
| G. brantsii | Highveld gerbil | 529 | 4 (0.8) | 8–256 (26.9) | 0 | 14 | 14 | 0 | |
| G. leucogaster | Bushveld gerbil | 378 | 14 (3.7) | 8–1,024 (57.9) | 8 | 42 | 42 | 0 | |
| G. paeba |
Hairy-footed gerbil |
8 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
||
| Lemniscomys rosalia |
Single-striped mouse |
21 |
0 |
2 |
8 |
8 |
0 |
||
| Mastomys coucha | Cape multimammate mouse | 664 | 11 (1.7) | 8–512 (56.4) | 14 | 63 | 73 | 0 | |
| M. natalensis |
Natal multimammate mouse |
1165 |
370 (31.8) |
8–16,384 (219.5) |
151 |
307 |
380 |
14 |
|
| Micaelamys namaquensis |
Namaqua rock mouse |
273 |
20 (7.3) |
8–2,048 (132.4) |
44 |
85 |
101 |
1 |
|
| Mus minutoides | Pygmy mouse | 16 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 28 | 0 | ||
| M. musculus |
House mouse |
25 |
0 |
0 |
23 |
23 |
0 |
||
| Mystromys albicaudatus |
White-tailed mouse |
11 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
||
| Otomys angoniensis | Angoni vlei rat | 30 | 1 (3.3) | 16 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | |
| O. irroratus | Vlei rat | 266 | 67 (25.2) | 8–8,192 (127.9) | 315 | 59 | 346 | 0† | |
| O. unisulcatus |
Bush vlei rat |
178 |
28(21.3) |
8–2,048 (99.1) |
17 |
19 |
28 |
3 |
|
| Parotomys brantsii | Brant’s whistling rat | 10 | 1 (10.0) | 256 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| P. littledalei |
Littledale’s whistling rat |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
| Rattus norvegicus | Brown rat | 125 | 6 (4.8) | 8–8,192 (644.6) | 8 | 47 | 48 | 0 | |
| R. rattus |
House rat |
211 |
1 (0.5) |
512 |
6 |
38 |
38 |
0 |
|
| Rhabdomys pumilio s.l. |
Four-striped mouse |
933 |
11 (1.2) |
8–64 (19.3) |
73 |
59 |
118 |
0 |
|
| Saccostomus campestris |
Pouched mouse |
82 |
6 (7.3) |
8–1,024 (25.4) |
11 |
24 |
28 |
0 |
|
| Steatomys pratensis |
Fat mouse |
3 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
||
| Thallomys paedulcus |
Tree mouse |
31 |
0 |
11 |
27 |
27 |
0 |
||
| Zelotomys woosnami |
Woosnam’s desert rat |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
| Cryptomys hottentotus |
Common mole rat |
6 |
0 |
||||||
| Graphiurus murinus |
Woodland doormouse |
8 |
0 |
||||||
| Paraxerus cepapi |
Tree squirrel |
6 |
0 |
||||||
| Xerus inauris |
Ground squirrel |
36 |
0 |
||||||
| Pedetes capensis |
Springhare |
8 |
0 |
||||||
| Totals | 5,363 | 560 | 691 | 940 | 1,405 | 19 | |||
*IF, immunofluorescence. †Organ pool from 1 O. irroratus rat was positive in mammarenavirus IF on first pass in culture but the potential isolate was lost on subculture.
1Current affiliation: EduVos, Midrand, South Africa.
2Current affiliation: University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.
3Current affiliation: University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Page created: October 11, 2021
Page updated: November 19, 2021
Page reviewed: November 19, 2021
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