1
|
Bakker JW, Pascoe EL, van de Water S, van Keulen L, de Vries A, Woudstra LC, Esser HJ, Pijlman GP, de Boer WF, Sprong H, Kortekaas J, Wichgers Schreur PJ, Koenraadt CJM. Infection of wild-caught wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) and yellow-necked mice (A. flavicollis) with tick-borne encephalitis virus. Sci Rep 2023; 13:21627. [PMID: 38062065 PMCID: PMC10703896 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-47697-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2023] [Accepted: 11/17/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
The distribution of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) is expanding to Western European countries, including the Netherlands, but the contribution of different rodent species to the transmission of TBEV is poorly understood. We investigated whether two species of wild rodents native to the Netherlands, the wood mouse Apodemus sylvaticus and the yellow-necked mouse Apodemus flavicollis, differ in their relative susceptibility to experimental infection with TBEV. Wild-caught individuals were inoculated subcutaneously with the classical European subtype of TBEV (Neudoerfl) or with TBEV-NL, a genetically divergent TBEV strain from the Netherlands. Mice were euthanised and necropsied between 3 and 21 days post-inoculation. None of the mice showed clinical signs or died during the experimental period. Nevertheless, TBEV RNA was detected up to 21 days in the blood of both mouse species and TBEV was also isolated from the brain of some mice. Moreover, no differences in infection rates between virus strains and mouse species were found in blood, spleen, or liver samples. Our results suggest that the wood mouse and the yellow-necked mouse may equally contribute to the transmission cycle of TBEV in the Netherlands. Future experimental infection studies that include feeding ticks will help elucidate the relative importance of viraemic transmission in the epidemiology of TBEV.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Julian W Bakker
- Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
| | - Emily L Pascoe
- Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Conservation Genomics Research Unit, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Trento, Italy
| | - Sandra van de Water
- Department of Virology and Molecular Biology, Wageningen Bioveterinary Research, Lelystad, The Netherlands
| | - Lucien van Keulen
- Department of Bacteriology, Host-Pathogen Interaction and Diagnostics Development, Wageningen Bioveterinary Research, Lelystad, The Netherlands
| | - Ankje de Vries
- National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Lianne C Woudstra
- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Helen J Esser
- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Gorben P Pijlman
- Laboratory of Virology, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Willem F de Boer
- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Hein Sprong
- National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Jeroen Kortekaas
- Department of Virology and Molecular Biology, Wageningen Bioveterinary Research, Lelystad, The Netherlands
- Laboratory of Virology, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, Saint Priest, France
| | - Paul J Wichgers Schreur
- Department of Virology and Molecular Biology, Wageningen Bioveterinary Research, Lelystad, The Netherlands
| | | |
Collapse
|