Group Group V ((-)ssRNA) Family Bunyaviridae Rank Species | Order Unassigned Genus Hantavirus | |
Similar Ussuri white‑toothed shrew, Chinese mole shrew, Asian mole shrew, Montane shrew | ||
Imjin virus (MJNV) is a single-stranded, enveloped, negative-sense RNA virus of the hantavirus genus in the Bunyaviridae family. It is a newly identified hantavirus isolated from the lung tissues of Ussuri white-toothed shrews of the species Crocidura lasiura (order Soricomorpha, family Soricidae, subfamily Crocidurinae) captured near the demilitarized zone in the Republic of Korea during 2004 and 2005.
Virology
Phylogenetic analyses demonstrates a common ancestry with Thottapalayam virus suggesting early evolutionary divergence. It is still unknown if MJNV is pathogenic for humans.
MJNV has been shown to be a genetically unique hantavirus. Multiple strains have been isolated from the lung tissues of Ussuri white-toothed shrews captured between 2004 and 2010. Partial M- and L-segment sequences from lung tissues of 12 of 37 (32.4%) anti-MJNV IgG antibody-positive shrews revealed that the 12 MJNV strains differed by 0-12.2% and 0-2.3% at the nucleotide and amino acid levels. A similar degree of nucleotide and amino acid difference was found in a 632-nucleotide length of the L segment of nine MJNV strains. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrated a geographic relationship similar to the phylogeography of rodent-borne hantaviruses.