Puumala Virus Variants Circulating in Forests of Ardennes, France: Ten Years of Genetic Evolution

Abstract : In Europe, Puumala virus (PUUV) transmitted by the bank vole (Myodes glareolus) is the causative agent of nephropathia epidemica (NE), a mild form of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome. In France, very little is known about the spatial and temporal variability of the virus circulating within bank vole populations. The present study involved monitoring of bank vole population dynamics and PUUV microdiversity over a ten-year period (2000–2009) in two forests of the Ardennes region: Elan and Croix-Scaille. Ardennes region is characterised by different environmental conditions associated with different NE epidemiology. Bank vole density and population parameters were estimated using the capture/marking/recapture method, and blood samples were collected to monitor the overall seroprevalence of PUUV in rodent populations. Phylogenetic analyses of fifty-five sequences were performed to illustrate the genetic diversity of PUUV variants between forests. The pattern of the two forests differed clearly. In the Elan forest, the rodent survival was higher, and this limited turn-over resulted in a lower seroprevalence and diversity of PUUV sequences than in the Croix-Scaille forest. Uncovering the links between host dynamics and virus microevolution is improving our understanding of PUUV distribution in rodents and the NE risk.