Genetic diversity and expanded epidemic area of novel tick-borne pathogen wetland virus in ticks, wild and domestic animals, and patient in China

作者：Yuan Hong-xia, Xiao-Long Lv, Meiqi Zhang, Guang‐Qian Si, Zhijun Zhao, Xiaohu Han, Zhi-Jun Hou, Ning Cui, Lei Zhang, Yidan Ma, Si-Qian Wu, Xin Yang, Hongwei Mu, Cong Peng, Ming Chen, Pengtao Bao, Hao Li, Shuzhen Han, Xiao‐Ai Zhang, Wei Liu · 发表于：Emerging Microbes & Infections · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1080/22221751.2025.2502003 · 被引用次数：8 · 研究领域：Viral Infections and Vectors、Vector-Borne Animal Diseases、Vector-borne infectious diseases

Wetland virus (WELV) is a recently identified segmented orthonairovirus associated with human febrile illness in northeastern China. To elucidate its ecological drivers and transmission patterns, we conducted multi-host surveillance in seven eco-climate regions across China through an integrated approach combining molecular and serological profiling. Over 33,000 questing and feeding ticks representing 11 species were systematically screened WELV-RNA alongside 1,493 wild small mammals, while 2,578 domestic animals and 3,921 patients presenting with outdoor field or tick exposure history underwent both WELV specific molecular and serological evaluation. WELV-RNA detection via real-time RT-PCR revealed low but widespread infection, including 0.54% (8/1,493) in wild rodents (Apodemus chevrieri, Rattus norvegicus), 1.12% (29/2,578) in domestic animals, and 0.86% (275/33091) in ticks, including five newly confirmed vector species. Serological analysis via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) demonstrated 2.44% (63/2578) IgG seroprevalence in livestock. Clinical surveillance identified acute WELV infections in 1.81% (71/3921) of febrile patients, predominantly as monoinfections (77.46%, 55/71). Coinfected patients exhibited elevated disease severity markers, with hospitalization rates doubling compared to single-infection cases (87.50% vs.36.36%). Spatiotemporal analysis showed spring-summer predominance of WELV for both ticks and human patients. Phylogenetic analyses revealed ...