Novel screening of haemorrhagic fever viruses in Shrews, Najd Desert, KSA

---

Nahla Mohamed, Rania Ali El Hadi Mohamed, Fadilah Sfouq Aleanizy and Fulwah Y Alqahtani

Princess Nourah Bint Abdurrahman University, KSA

Umea University; Sweden

: J Virol Antivir Res

Abstract

---

Background & Aim: A shrew or shrew mouse (family Soricidae) is a small mole-like mammal classified in the order Eulipotyphla. This study aimed to screen wildlife shrews for certain viral hemorrhagic fever RNA’s wildlife Shrews collected from rural areas in Riyadh, Kingdom Saudi Arabia. Methods: Shrews were sorted out from the trapped shrew-like rodents using the classical morphological keys. Viral RNA has been extracted from internal organs; lungs, livers, kidneys, and stomach using Qiagen RNeasy Mini Kit. Rift Valley Fever Virus (RVFV), Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV), Alkhurma virus, Sindbis virus (SINV) and Hanta virus (HANTV) were screened using SYBR Green One step RT-PCR Master Mix (KAPA Biosystems, Boston, MA). Negative and positive controls were tested for each test to confirm the specificity of the selected primer pairs. Results: The four groups of internal viscera of shrews were positive for the following viruses: SINV, RVFV, CHIKV, CCHFV, and HANTV. This indicated the propagation and dissemination of the viruses inside shrews’ tissues. Conclusion: The obtained results constitute first record in Kingdom Saudi Arabia and greatly extend our knowledge of wildlife reservoir of arboviruses and other hosts; especially bats are highly recommended for investigation in the upcoming researches.

Biography

---

Nahla is a very interested and positive person who did her best to fulfill the project goals and succeeded in doing so. Nahla has a positive factor in all her research work, I am a very enthusiastic, active, and eager to learn. As well I am broad experienced in the development and performance of clinically useful real-time PCRs and molecular tools in clinical virology aspects.