Biya River Virus, a Novel Hantavirus of the Eurasian Water Shrew (Neomys fodiens) in Russia

Hantaviridae (order Bunyavirales) is a family of negative-sense, single-stranded RNA viruses. To date, several genetically distinct hantaviruses have been found in the same species of shrews and moles. In this report, we describe Biya River virus (BIRV), a novel hantavirus detected in the Eurasian water shrew (Neomys fodiens), the principal host of Boginia virus (BOGV). Genetic analysis of the complete L-, M-, and partial S-genomic segments showed that BIRV shared a common evolutionary origin with shrew-borne Altai (ALTV) and Lena (LENV) viruses, belonging to the Mobatvirus genus, and was distantly related to BOGV and other shrew- and mole-borne orthohantaviruses. Ancient cross-species transmission of hantaviruses, with subsequent diversification within the Soricinae subfamily in Eurasia might have shaped the evolutionary history of BIRV, ALTV and LENV.