Amugulang virus, a novel hantavirus harboured by small rodents in Hulunbuir, China

The Hulunbuir region, known for its diverse terrain and rich wildlife, is a hotspot for various natural epidemic diseases. Between 2021 and 2023, we collected 885 wild rodent samples from this area, representing three families, seven genera, and eleven species. Metagenomic analysis identified three complete nucleic acid sequences from the S, M, and L segments of the <i>Hantaviridae</i> family, which were closely related to the Khabarovsk virus. The nucleotide coding sequences for S, M, and L (1392 nt, 3465 nt, and 6491 nt, respectively) exhibited similarities of 82.34%, 81.68%, and 81.94% to known sequences, respectively, while protein-level analysis indicated higher similarities of 94.92%, 94.41%, and 95.87%, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis placed these sequences within the same clade as the Khabarovsk, Puumala, Muju, Hokkaido, Topografov, and Tatenalense viruses, all of which are known to cause febrile diseases in humans. Immunofluorescence detection of nucleic acid-positive rodent kidney samples using sera from patients with hemorrhagic fever and renal syndrome confirmed the presence of viral particles. Based on these findings, we propose that this virus represents a new member of the <i>Hantaviridae</i> family, tentatively named the Amugulang virus, after its primary distribution area.呼伦贝尔地区地形多样、野生动物资源富集，是多种自然疫源性疾病的高发热点区域。2021年至2023年间，研究团队在此区域采集了885份野生啮齿类动物样本，涵盖3科、7属、11个物种。经宏基因组分析，鉴定出汉坦病毒科（Hantaviridae）S、M、L片段的3条完整核酸序列，上述序列与哈巴罗夫斯克病毒（Khabarovsk virus）亲缘关系密切。S、M、L片段的核苷酸编码序列长度分别为1392 nt、3465 nt和6491 nt，与已知对应序列的相似度分别为82.34%、81.68%和81.94%；蛋白水平分析则显示更高的相似度，分别达94.92%、94.41%和95.87%。系统发育分析结果显示，这些序列与哈巴罗夫斯克病毒、普马拉病毒（Puumala）、Muju病毒、北海道病毒（Hokkaido）、托波格拉沃夫病毒（Topografov）以及塔特纳伦塞病毒（Tatenalense）同属一个进化枝，上述病毒均为已知的人类发热致病病原体。研究团队采用肾综合征出血热患者血清，对核酸阳性的啮齿类肾脏样本进行免疫荧光检测，证实了病毒颗粒的存在。基于上述研究结果，本研究认为该病毒为汉坦病毒科的一个新成员，暂定名为阿穆古朗病毒（Amugulang virus），以其主要分布区域命名。