Mastomys natalensis is a possible natural rodent reservoir for encephalomyocarditis virus
Open accessAbstract
Encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) infects a wide range of hosts and can cause encephalitis, myocarditis, reproductive disorders and diabetes mellitus in selected mammalian species. As for humans, EMCV infection seems to occur by the contact with animals and can cause febrile illnesses in some infected patients. Here we isolated EMCV strain ZM12/14 from a natal multimammate mouse (Mastomys natalensis: M. natalensis) in Zambia. Pairwise sequence similarity of the ZM12/14 P1 region consisting of antigenic capsid proteins showed the highest similarity of nucleotide (80.7 %) and amino acid (96.2%) sequence with EMCV serotype 1 (EMCV-1). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that ZM12/14 clustered into EMCV-1 at the P1 and P3 regions but segregated from known EMCV strains at the P2 region, suggesting a unique evolutionary history. Reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) screening and neutralizing antibody assays for EMCV were performed using collected tissues and serum from various rodents (n=179) captured in different areas in Zambia. We detected the EMCV genome in 19 M. natalensis (19/179=10.6 %) and neutralizing antibody for EMCV in 33 M. natalensis (33/179=18.4 %). However, we did not detect either the genome or neutralizing antibody in other rodent species. High neutralizing antibody litres (≧320) were observed in both RT-PCR-negative and -positive animals. Inoculation of ZM12/14 caused asymptomatic persistent infection in BALB/c mice with high antibody titres and high viral loads in some organs, consistent with the above epidemiological results. This study is the first report of the isolation of EMCV in Zambia, suggesting that M. natalensis may play a role as a natural reservoir of infection.
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The exact rodent species that maintain EMCV in nature are largely unknown and may differ between geographical regions.
“Although rodents are currently viewed as the likely reservoir hosts for EMCV worldwide, the exact rodent species that maintain the virus in nature are largely unknown and may differ between geographical regions, as recently shown with Mastomys rodents in southern Africa [12].”
From Zoological transmission of encephalomyocarditis virus in the United States: Virus evolution, host ecology, and capsid antigenicity derived from an outbreak (2026) · cites this paper as [12]
EMCV is principally rodent-borne, maintained in nature in wild rats and mice.
“EMCV is believed to be principally rodent-borne, being maintained in nature in wild rats and mice [10–12].”
From Zoological transmission of encephalomyocarditis virus in the United States: Virus evolution, host ecology, and capsid antigenicity derived from an outbreak (2026) · cites this paper as [12]
The natural transmission cycles of EMCV in North America and globally are largely enigmatic.
“Overall, the natural transmission cycles of EMCV in North America (and globally) are largely enigmatic.”
From Zoological transmission of encephalomyocarditis virus in the United States: Virus evolution, host ecology, and capsid antigenicity derived from an outbreak (2026) · cites this paper as [12]
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“…(i) EMCV ZM12/14 (GenBank: LC585221), isolated from a multimammate mouse ( Mastomys natalensis ) in Zambia in 2012 and designated as serotype 1 [12], (ii) EMCV RD-1338 (GenBank: JX257003), isolated from a wood mouse ( Apodemus sylvaticus ) in Germany in 2005 and designated as the prototype…”
- Authors
- Kishimoto, M., Hang’ombe, B. M., Hall, W. W., Orba, Y., Sawa, H., & Sasaki, M.
- Affiliations
- Hokkaido University (JP)
- University of Zambia (ZM)
- University College Dublin (IE)
- Venue
- Journal of General Virology
- Publisher
- Microbiology Society
- Published
- 2021-03-01
- Volume
- 102
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 001564
- ISSN
- 0022-1317 (ISSN-L)
- 1465-2099
- OpenAlex
- W3129036230
- Cited by
- 15
- References
- 52
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 0.63
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Journal of General Virology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Hokkaido University Collection of Scholarly and Academic Papers (Hokkaido University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (20wm0125008)
- Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (20jm0110019)
- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (16H06429, 16H06431, 16K21723, 1801)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Viral Infections and Vectors
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Virology and Viral Diseases
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Animal Science and Zoology › Animal Virus Infections Studies
- Keywords
- encephalomyocarditis virus, Mastomys natalensis, multimammate mouse, natural reservoirs, zoonotic transmission, viral phylogeny, neutralizing antibodies, persistent infection, rodents, Zambia
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Antibodies, Viral, Disease Reservoirs, Encephalomyocarditis virus, Mice, Inbred BALB C, Phylogeny, Shrews, Zambia, Prevalence, Genome, Viral, Cardiovirus Infections, Evolution, Molecular, Murinae, Mice, Antibodies, Neutralizing
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