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Ljungan virus is endemic in rodents in the UK

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An Erratum to this article was published on 21 February 2014

Abstract

Ljungan virus is a recently identified member of the family Picornaviridae that was isolated from bank voles in Sweden. It has been shown to cause type 1 diabetes-like symptoms and myocarditis in bank voles (Myodes glareolus), and it has been suggested that it has zoonotic potential. Here, we show for the first time that Ljungan virus is prevalent (20–27 % positive by PCR) in four species of UK rodent (Myodes glareolus [bank vole], Apodemus sylvaticus [wood mouse], Microtus agrestis [field vole] and Mus musculus [house mouse]). Sequence analysis showed that Ljungan virus of genotypes 1 and 2 were present, although genotype 1 was more prevalent and more frequently associated with brain tissue. This study highlights the prevalence of Ljungan virus in the UK and the need for confirmation of its zoonotic potential.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by a National Environment Research Council grant (NE/E008038/1) to MB and JPS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Infection Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool Science Park IC2, 146 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool, L3 5RF, UK

    Anne-Marie Salisbury & James P. Stewart

  2. Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Disease Group, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZJ, UK

    Michael Begon

  3. Department of Clinical Infection Microbiology and Immunology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK

    Winifred Dove

  4. Apodemus AB, Grevgatan 38, Stockholm, Sweden

    Bo Niklasson

Authors
  1. Anne-Marie Salisbury
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  2. Michael Begon
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  3. Winifred Dove
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  4. Bo Niklasson
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  5. James P. Stewart
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to James P. Stewart.

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Salisbury, AM., Begon, M., Dove, W. et al. Ljungan virus is endemic in rodents in the UK. Arch Virol 159, 547–551 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-013-1731-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-013-1731-6

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