Host switch during evolution of a genetically distinct hantavirus in the American shrew mole ( Neurotrichus gibbsii )

Abstract A genetically distinct hantavirus, designated Oxbow virus (OXBV), was detected in tissues of an American shrew mole ( Neurotrichus gibbsii ), captured in Gresham, Oregon, in September 2003. Pairwise analysis of full-length S- and M- and partial L-segment nucleotide and amino acid sequences of OXBV indicated low sequence similarity with rodent-borne hantaviruses. Phylogenetic analyses using maximum-likelihood and Bayesian methods, and host–parasite evolutionary comparisons, showed that OXBV and Asama virus, a hantavirus recently identified from the Japanese shrew mole ( Urotrichus talpoides ), were related to soricine shrew-borne hantaviruses from North America and Eurasia, respectively, suggesting parallel evolution associated with cross-species transmission.