New Lyssavirus Genotype from the Lesser Mouse-eared Bat (Myotis blythi), Kyrghyzstan

摘要

The Aravan virus was isolated from a Lesser Mouse-earedBat (Myotis blythi) in the Osh region of Kyrghyzstan, centralAsia, in 1991. We determined the complete sequence of thenucleoprotein (N) gene and compared it with those of 26 repre-sentative lyssaviruses obtained from databases. The Aravanvirus was distinguished from seven distinct genotypes on thebasis of nucleotide and amino acid identity. Phylogenetic analy-sis based on both nucleotide and amino acid sequencesshowed that the Aravan virus was more closely related to geno-types 4, 5, and—to a lesser extent—6, which circulates amonginsectivorus bats in Europe and Africa. The Aravan virus doesnot belong to any of the seven known genotypes of lyssavirus-es, namely, rabies, Lagos bat, Mokola, and Duvenhage virusesand European bat lyssavirus 1, European bat lyssavirus 2, andAustralian bat lyssavirus. Based on these data, we propose anew genotype for the Lyssavirus genus