Phylogenetic analysis of Puumala virus strains from Central Europe highlights the need for a full-genome perspective on hantavirus evolution.

Puumala virus (PUUV), carried by bank voles (Myodes glareolus), is the medically most important hantavirus in Central and Western Europe. In this study, a total of 523 bank voles (408 from Germany, 72 from Slovakia, and 43 from Czech Republic) collected between the years 2007-2012 were analyzed for the presence of hantavirus RNA. Partial PUUV genome segment sequences were obtained from 51 voles.

The occurrence of Ixodes ricinus ticks and important tick-borne pathogens in areas with high tick-borne encephalitis prevalence in different altitudinal levels of the Czech Republic Part I. Ixodes ricinus ticks and tick-borne encephalitis virus.

Study Objective: The aim of the three-year study (2011-2013) was to monitor population density of Ixodes ricinus ticks and its infection rate with the tick-borne encephalitis virus in areas with a high incidence of tick-borne encephalitis as reported in the previous decade 2001-2010. Such a comprehensive and long-term study based on existing epidemiolo-gical findings has not previously been conducted in Europe.

Material And Methods: In the areas of the Ústí nad Labem Region, Olomouc Region, South Bohemian Region, and Highlands Region, 600 m2 plots were selected in the local optimal I.

Detection of shrew-borne hantavirus in Eurasian pygmy shrew (Sorex minutus) in Central Europe.

Recently, it was found that not only rodents but also shrews are reservoir hosts of hantaviruses. In Central Europe, only Seewis virus, associated with the Eurasian common shrew (Sorex araneus), has been recognized until now. In the present report, tissue samples from shrews belonging to Crocidurinae and Soricinae subfamilies, trapped in Czech Republic, Germany, and Slovakia, were screened for the presence of novel hantaviruses.

Broad geographical distribution and high genetic diversity of shrew-borne Seewis hantavirus in Central Europe.

For a long time hantaviruses were believed to be exclusively rodent-borne pathogens. Recent findings of numerous shrew- and mole-borne hantaviruses raise important questions on their phylogenetic origin. The objective of our study was to prove the presence and distribution of shrew-associated Seewis virus (SWSV) in different Sorex species in Central Europe.

Seroprevalence of hantavirus antibodies among chronic hemodialysis patients in the Czech Republic.

A total of 348 serum samples were collected from 301 hemodialysis patients with chronic renal failure of four healthcare settings in Western Bohemia. The sera were screened for the presence of hantavirus antibodies using ELISA kits (PROGEN Biotechnik GmbH) with Hantaan and Puumala antigens. Specific anti-Puumala antibodies were detected in five patients (1.

Characterization of a natural focus of Puumala hantavirus infection in the Czech Republic.

Hantaviruses are RNA viruses of the Bunyaviridae family, represented in the Czech Republic by three genospecies: Dobrava-Belgrade, Puumala and Tula. They persist in natural foci of infection. In 2004 to 2009, a local outbreak with 18 reported cases of nephropathia epidemica caused by Puumala hantavirus occurred in the Sumava mountains and foothills and was spacially associated with another outbreak in Lower Bavaria, Germany.

Tula virus in populations of small terrestrial mammals in a rural landscape.

Over 5 years (2000-2004), populations of small mammals from a rural landscape in southern Moravia (Czech Republic) were investigated for the presence of Tula virus (TULV) antigen using the ELISA set Hantagnost. In total, 1566 individuals from 10 species were examined. The prevalence in the common vole (Microtus arvalis Pallas 1778), the main reservoir of TULV, was 10% (n = 871).

Variable spikes in tick-borne encephalitis incidence in 2006 independent of variable tick abundance but related to weather.

Background: The incidence of tick-borne encephalitis showed a dramatic spike in several countries in Europe in 2006, a year that was unusually cold in winter but unusually warm and dry in summer and autumn. In this study we examine the possible causes of the sudden increase in disease: more abundant infected ticks and/or increased exposure due to human behaviour, both in response to the weather.

Methods: For eight countries across Europe, field data on tick abundance for 2005-2007, collected monthly from a total of 41 sites, were analysed in relation to total annual and seasonal TBE incidence and temperature and rainfall conditions.

Mild course of Puumala nephropathy in children in an area with sporadic occurrence Hantavirus infection.

The first three children with Puumala virus nephropathy diagnosis in the Czech Republic are reported on. A boy and two girls were admitted with symptoms of interstitial nephritis. The medical history in all children revealed flu-like symptoms.

Detection of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in animals by real-time polymerase chain reaction.

The aim of this study was to detect Anaplasma phagocytophilum in wild and domesticated animals and to identify the phylogenetic relationships of different strains of this bacterium. We adapted six published conventional methods targeting 16S fragments for real-time polymerase chain reaction. Initial screening of samples from 419 animals found 37 Anaplasma positives, later confirmed with several different primers and a TaqMan probe.

Prevalence of antibodies against hantaviruses among the adult population of the Czech Republic.

At least three hantavirus genospecies are circulating among wild rodents in Europe: Puumala, Dobrava and Tula, the two first being of clinical significance for humans as possible causative agents of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome. As many as 710 adult individuals randomly selected from 12 regions of the Czech Republic were screened for the presence of antibodies against hantaviruses. Commercial sets with Hantaan and Puumala antigens were used for this purpose.

[Importance of regular screening for genital chlamydiosis in adolescents].

Objective: Determination of prevalence of genital chlamydiosis in similar group of adolescents as in that examined two years ago. Comparison of the results with the previous ones to confirm positive impact of a repeated screening on drop of prevalence of the infection. Another objective is to make the epidemiological data on genital chlamydiosis in the countries of the "Eastern Block" more accurate, and at the same time to assess the most suitable screening method.

[Detection of hantavirus antigen in rodents in the Czech Republic].

The work is based on the hitherto implemented examinations of lungs of rodents from the territory of the Czech Republic for the presence of hantavirus antigen. For detection of a species specific antigen the ELISA set Hantagnost from the Poliomyelitis Institute in Moscow was used. A total of 1494 micromammalia of 15 species caught in 1991-2001 were examined.

[Noninvasive screening for genital chlamydiosis in adolescents in Brno].

Objective: To run a screening for genital chlamydiosis in adolescents living in the town Brno as the first action of this type in the Czech Republic and to use the results of the screening for the elaboration of recommendations for running similar actions on the national scale.

Design: Prospective epidemiological study.

Setting: Veterinary Research Institute, Brno; Institute of Clinical Biochemistry, 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General Faculty Hospital, Prague; Section of Public Health, Municipal Authorities of Brno; Bioplus Ltd.

Recombination in Tula hantavirus evolution: analysis of genetic lineages from Slovakia.

To examine the evolution of Tula hantavirus (TUL), carried by the European common vole (Microtus arvalis and M. rossiaemeridionalis), we have analyzed genetic variants from Slovakia, the country where the virus is endemic. Phylogenetic analysis (PHYLIP) based on either partial (nucleotides [nt] 441 to 898) or complete N-protein-encoding sequences divided Slovakian TUL variants into two main lineages: (i) strains from eastern Slovakia, which clustered with Russian strains, and (ii) strains from western Slovakia situated closer to those from the Czech Republic.

[Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome].

The authors describe the illness of a Czech soldier who while serving in the UNPROFOR forces in an area with the endemic occurrence of hantaviruses became infected with this agent and developed haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome. The severe clinical course which called for seven haemodialyzation procedures led to the patient's recovery. The authors describe the course of the disease and epidemiological circumstances.

[Occurrence of antibodies to chlamydial group antigens in the population of the Czech Republic].

A set of 4,178 human blood sera was tested including 3,093 samples collected from blood donors, 624 randomly collected samples. 124 samples collected from persons possibly exposed to Chlamydia infection, and 337 samples from patients of various hospitals in the districts of Brno, Olomouc and Rumburk. All the sera were examined using the complement fixation microtest and the antigen of Chlamydia psittaci for CFR (Bioveta, Ivanovice na Hané, CzR).

Isolation and characterization of Tula virus, a distinct serotype in the genus Hantavirus, family Bunyaviridae.

A Vero E6 cell culture isolate of Tula virus (TUL), a hantavirus first detected in European common voles (Microtus arvalis and M. rossiaemeridionalis) by RT-PCR was obtained after initial passaging of TUL-infected vole lung samples in laboratory-colonized M. arvalis.

[An imported case of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome].

The authors present a case of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome imported from a region of endemic occurrence of hantaviruses in the Balkans. The patient contracted the infection in connection with service in the Czech UNPROFOR unit. The affection manifested itself as renal insufficiency and required a total of seven haemodialyses for complete recovery.

[Detection of chlamydia in the intestines and lungs in pigeons and humans].

Attempts were made to detect Chlamydia sp. by direct immunofluorescence (IF) in intestinal and lung tissues collected from wild town pigeons, young reared pigeons, and human corpses. Chlamydia in any organ were detected in 86.

Genetic variation in Tula hantaviruses: sequence analysis of the S and M segments of strains from Central Europe.

Hantavirus carried by the European common vole Microtus arvalis from Moravia (Czech Republic) was analyzed by RT-PCR-sequencing and by reactivity with a panel of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs). Sequencing of the full-length S segment and the proximal part of the M segment showed that the virus belonged to genotype Tula (TUL) we discovered earlier in Microtus arvalis from Central Russia. This finding supported the concept of host dependence of hantaviruses.

[Prevalence of hantavirus infection in small mammals in the South Moravian Region].

In 1987 to 1990 in the South Moravian region 1094 lungs of small terrestrial mammals were examined for hantavirus antigen and sera of 525 rodents and 93 hares for antibodies against these viruses. In the majority the materials were not from the same individual. Lungs were examined by the ELISA method, antibodies were assessed by the indirect immunofluorescence reaction.

[Antibodies against Hantaviruses in game and domestic oxen in the Czech Republic].

Using the test of indirect immunofluorescence, the authors examined sera of animals for antibodies against the strain CG 18-20 of Hantavirus (identical with strain Puumala) and against the Hantaan strain. As a control and supplement of the examination the authors used cells containing the TBE virus, strain Hypr. In a group of 260 hares (Lepus europaeus) in 3.