Short Communication Isolation and characterization of hantavirus carried by Apodemus peninsulae in Jilin, China Yong-Zhen Zhang, 1 Yang Zou, 1 Lai-Shun Yao, 2 Guang-Wei Hu, 2 Zhan-Shen Du, 2 Long-Zhe Jin, 3 Yao-Yuan Liu, 4 Hong-Xia Wang, 1 Xian Chen, 1 Hua-Xin Chen 1 and Zhen F. Fu 5 Correspondence Yong-Zhen Zhang yongzhenzhang@sohu.com 1 Department of Hemorrhagic Fever, Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Changping Liuzi 5, Beijing 102206, China 2 Jilin Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Changchun 130021, Jilin Province, China 3 Hunchun Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hunchun 133300, Jilin Province, China 4 Fusong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Fusong 134500, Jilin Province, China 5 Department of Pathology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA Received 5 September 2006 Accepted 6 December 2006 To provide a better understanding of hantavirus epidemiology in China, Korean field mice (Apodemus peninsulae) and striped field mice (Apodemus agrarius) were captured in Jilin province, China, where haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) is endemic. Hantavirus antigens were detected in eight of the 130 A. peninsulae individuals and in four of the 193 A. agrarius individuals by using an immunofluorescence assay. Partial S and M segments were amplified from all of the antigen-positive samples. Furthermore, two hantaviruses (CJAp89 and CJAp93) were isolated successfully in cell culture and the entire S and M segments were amplified from one of them (CJAp93). Phylogenetic analysis of these sequences (partial or complete) showed that hantaviruses carried by A. peninsulae and A. agrarius form two distinct lineages, although viruses carried by A. peninsulae are similar to those isolated previously from A. agrarius in China and from HFRS patients in Russia. However, the viruses detected in A. peninsulae in China are genetically different from those detected in A. peninsulae in other countries. These data suggest that A. peninsulae is also a natural host for HTNV in north-eastern China. Haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) is an important human disease and 60 000–100 000 hospitalized patients are reported annually worldwide, with the bulk of these cases occurring in China (Johnson, 1999). During the past 10 years, 25 000–60 000 HFRS cases were reported in China annually (Zhang et al., 2004). HFRS is caused by hantavirus, a member of the genus Hantavirus in the family Bunyaviridae. Currently, at least 20 serotypes and geno- types [such as Hantaan virus (HTNV), Dobrava-Belgrade virus (DOBV), Seoul virus (SEOV), Puumala virus (PUUV), Sin Nombre virus (SNV), etc.] of hantavirus have been identi- fied worldwide (Khaiboullina et al., 2005), and each serotype and/or genotype of hantavirus appears to be associated primarily with one (or a few closely related) specific rodent host(s) (Plyusnin & Morzunov, 2001). Several rodent species, such as Apodemus agrarius and Rattus norvegicus, have been identified as hantavirus reservoirs in China (Chen et al., 1986, 1999; Song et al., 1983, 1984; Wang et al., 2000). Apodemus peninsulae has been identified as a hantavirus reservoir, and the hantavirus carried by A. peninsulae has been associated with HFRS in the far-east region of Russia (Lokugamage et al., 2002; Yashina et al., 2000). Hanta- viruses have also been isolated from A. peninsulae in South Korea (Baek et al., 2006). Characterization of these viruses indicated that hantaviruses carried by A. peninsulae in the far east of Russia and in South Korea are antigenically and genetically distinct from HTNV, which is usually carried by A. agrarius. This led to the suggestion that hantaviruses carried by A. peninsulae could be classified as a novel hantavirus serotype (Baek et al., 2006; Lokugamage et al., 2004). A. peninsulae is distributed widely in China, and is one of the predominant rodent species in forest areas in the north-east (Zhang et al., 1997), where HFRS occurs (Cai et al., 1997). Hantavirus-positive antigens and anti- bodies have been detected in A. peninsulae in north-eastern China since 1983 (Chen et al., 1986, 1999; Li et al., 1983; Luo & Liu, 1989). However, no characterization has been performed antigenically or genetically. In the present study, we report the isolation and characterization of hantaviruses from A. peninsulae in a north-east Chinese province, Jilin. During the spring and autumn of 2002 and 2003, rodents were captured in snap-traps in Fusong county and Journal of General Virology (2007), 88, 1295–1301 DOI 10.1099/vir.0.82534-0 0008-2534 G 2007 SGM Printed in Great Britain 1295