Preprint Communication Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

First Genomic Evidence of a Henipa-like Virus in Brazil

Leonardo H. Almeida Hernández
ORCID logo ,
Thito Y. Bezerra da Paz
ORCID logo ,
Sandro Patroca da Silva
ORCID logo ,
Fábio S. da Silva
,
Bruno C. Veloso de Barros
ORCID logo ,
Bruno T. Diniz Nunes
ORCID logo ,
Lívia M. Neves Casseb
,
Daniele B. Almeida Medeiros
ORCID logo ,
Pedro F. da Costa Vasconcelos
,
Ana Cecília Ribeiro Cruz
* ORCID logo
Version 1 : Received: 16 August 2022 / Approved: 18 August 2022 / Online: 18 August 2022 (10:45:18 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Hernández, L.H.A.; da Paz, T.Y.B.; Silva, S.P.; Silva, F.S.; Barros, B.C.V.; Nunes, B.T.D.; Casseb, L.M.N.; Medeiros, D.B.A.; Vasconcelos, P.F.C.; Cruz, A.C.R. First Genomic Evidence of a Henipa-like Virus in Brazil. Viruses 2022, 14, 2167. Hernández, L.H.A.; da Paz, T.Y.B.; Silva, S.P.; Silva, F.S.; Barros, B.C.V.; Nunes, B.T.D.; Casseb, L.M.N.; Medeiros, D.B.A.; Vasconcelos, P.F.C.; Cruz, A.C.R. First Genomic Evidence of a Henipa-like Virus in Brazil. Viruses 2022, 14, 2167.

Abstract

The viral genus Henipavirus includes two highly virulent zoonotic viruses of serious public health concern. Hendra henipavirus and Nipah henipavirus outbreaks are restricted to Australia and Southeast Asia, respectively. Henipavirus genus comprises mostly bat-borne viruses, but exceptions have already been described with novel viruses having rodents and shrews as reservoir animals. In the Americas, scarce evidence supports the circulation of these viruses. In this communication, we report a novel henipa-like virus from opossums (Marmosa demerarae) from a forest fragment area at Peixe-Boi municipality, Brazil, after which the virus was named the Peixe-Boi virus (PBV). The application of next-generation sequencing and metagenomic approach led us to discover the original evidence of a henipa-like virus genome in Brazil and South America and the original description of henipaviruses in marsupial species. These findings emphasize the importance of further studies to characterize PBV and clarify its ecology, impact on public health and its relationship with didelphid marsupials and other henipaviruses.

Keywords

metagenomics; henipavirus; marsupialia; opossums

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Virology

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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