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Laboratory detection and molecular phylogenetic analysis of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus in Hubei Province, central China

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Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease caused by the SFTS virus (SFTSV). Hubei Province is a major epidemic area for SFTS in China. In this study, quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and serological testing (IgM) were used simultaneously for laboratory detection of SFTS; however, testing results showed poor consistency between these two methods. Further analysis revealed that time post-onset was the main factor leading to inconsistent results. Thus, qRT-PCR is unable to detect all SFTS cases, and serological testing is essential. Here, 15 strains of SFTSV were successfully isolated from serum samples of acute SFTSV infection and their complete genomes were sequenced and submitted to GenBank. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the 15 SFTS virus strains clustered into four independent genotypes (A, B, D, and E), demonstrating that at least four genotypes of SFTSV have been co-circulating in Hubei Province. Furthermore, four strains of our isolates (HB2014-31, HB2014-35, HB2014-36, and HB2014-37) clustered in genotype E, which was the predominant genotype in Japan and South Korea. In this study, we identified multiple co-prevalent genotypes and confirmed the existence of genotype E viruses circulating in the Dabie Mountains of Hubei, central China. We concluded that SFTSV strains from Hubei exhibit most of the genetic diversity found in China.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by funds from Science and Technology Department of Hubei Province and Wuhan University, China.

Funding

This study was supported by Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province (CN) (2017CFB272), and the Opening Fund of State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan University (2017KF003).

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Author notes

  1. Hu Bing and Cai Kun contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Health Inspection and Testing, Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wuhan, 430079, Hubei, China

    Hu Bing, Cai Kun, Liu Man, Xu Junqiang & Zhan Jianbo

  2. Hubei Normal University, Huangshi, 435002, Hubei, China

    Li Wenjing

  3. National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 102206, China

    Qiu Feng

Authors
  1. Hu Bing
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  2. Cai Kun
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  3. Liu Man
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  4. Li Wenjing
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  5. Xu Junqiang
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  6. Qiu Feng
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  7. Zhan Jianbo
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Contributions

JZ participated in design and interpretation of the research, BH and ML performed the experiments, and wrote the paper. KC and WL analyzed the data and evolutionary analysis tools in this study. FQ reviewed this manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zhan Jianbo.

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Conflict of interest

All authors declare that they have no competing interests. All authors have seen and approved the manuscript and have contributed significantly to the work.

Ethical approval

The study protocol was approved by the ethics committee of Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Informed consent

Not applicable in this study.

Additional information

Handling Editor: Jens H. Kuhn.

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Hu, B., Cai, K., Liu, M. et al. Laboratory detection and molecular phylogenetic analysis of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus in Hubei Province, central China. Arch Virol 163, 3243–3254 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-018-3993-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-018-3993-5