Isolation,characterization, and phylogenic analysis of three new severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome bunyavirus strains derived from Hubei Province,China
1.State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China2.Department of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Infection and Immunology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, HuaZhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China
Abstract:
Hubei Province is a major epidemic area of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome bunyavirus (SFTSV) in China. However, to date, a few SFTSV strains have been isolated from Hubei Province, preventing effective studies of epidemic outbreaks. Here, we report three confirmed patients (2015–2016) with typical symptoms of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome disease (SFTS) who were farmers resident in different regions in Hubei Province. Three new SFTSV strains were isolated from the serum samples of each patient. Characterization of viral growth properties showed that there were no significant differences in virus production. All strains were completely sequenced, and phylogenetic analysis showed that unlike the other strains from Hubei province, which belonged to the SFTSV C3 genotype, one of the three strains belonged to the SFTSV C2 genotype. These results suggested that multiple SFTSV genotypes have been circulating in Hubei Province, providing insights into SFTSV evolution and improving our understanding of SFTSV prevalence in Hubei Province.
