Molecular evolution of Andes virus lineages leading to recent human outbreaks
- 1University of Oxford
Abstract
Andes virus (ANDV) is exceptional among hantaviruses in its capacity for person-to-person transmission, but whether outbreaks reflect recent viral adaptation or emergence of pre-existing reservoir lineages remains unclear. We generated paired blood- and nasal-derived genomes from the MV Hondius outbreak and integrated them with a segment-linked collection of human- and rodent-derived ANDV sequences, including incomplete genomes. We developed a linkage-informed missing-segment framework that preserves isolate identity, sampling time, and cross-segment placement without imputing nucleotide states, enabling sensitivity analyses of patchy segment coverage. Across five human outbreaks, dated phylogenies placed outbreak lineages independently within geographically structured reservoir diversity, with closest sampled ancestry predating detection. Time-dependent-rate analyses indicated a deeper reservoir-associated history, while mutation reconstruction, selection tests, branch-rate comparisons, and structural mapping found no recurrent adaptive transition preceding human transmission. MV Hondius samples showed minimal consensus-level diversification. These results shift attention from repeated recent adaptation toward deeper lineage properties and ecological opportunity.
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BibTeX
@misc{sharma2026molecular,
title = {{Molecular evolution of Andes virus lineages leading to recent human outbreaks}},
author = {C. Sharma and S. Oversti and R. Stass and A. G. Lucaci and J. Audet and D. Safronetz and L. Zhao and K. Lythgoe and A. Katzourakis and T. A. Bowden and S. Lytras and M. Ghafari},
howpublished = {medRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.64898/2026.11.06.26367422},
url = {https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.11.06.26367422v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Molecular evolution of Andes virus lineages leading to recent human outbreaks
AU - C. Sharma
AU - S. Oversti
AU - R. Stass
AU - A. G. Lucaci
AU - J. Audet
AU - D. Safronetz
AU - L. Zhao
AU - K. Lythgoe
AU - A. Katzourakis
AU - T. A. Bowden
AU - S. Lytras
AU - M. Ghafari
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/06
PB - medRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.11.06.26367422
UR - https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.11.06.26367422v1
AB - Andes virus (ANDV) is exceptional among hantaviruses in its capacity for person-to-person transmission, but whether outbreaks reflect recent viral adaptation or emergence of pre-existing reservoir lineages remains unclear. We generated paired blood- and nasal-derived genomes from the MV Hondius outbreak and integrated them with a segment-linked collection of human- and rodent-derived ANDV sequences, including incomplete genomes. We developed a linkage-informed missing-segment framework that preserves isolate identity, sampling time, and cross-segment placement without imputing nucleotide states, enabling sensitivity analyses of patchy segment coverage. Across five human outbreaks, dated phylogenies placed outbreak lineages independently within geographically structured reservoir diversity, with closest sampled ancestry predating detection. Time-dependent-rate analyses indicated a deeper reservoir-associated history, while mutation reconstruction, selection tests, branch-rate comparisons, and structural mapping found no recurrent adaptive transition preceding human transmission. MV Hondius samples showed minimal consensus-level diversification. These results shift attention from repeated recent adaptation toward deeper lineage properties and ecological opportunity.
ER -