OBJECTIVE Herpesviruses belong to a diverse order of large DNA viruses that can cause diseases in humans and animals. With the goal of gathering information about the distribution and diversity of herpesviruses in wild rodent and shrew species in central Africa, animals in Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo were sampled and tested by PCR for the presence of herpesvirus DNA. METHODS A broad range PCRs targeting either the Polymerase or the terminase gene were used for virus detection. Amplified products from PCR were sequenced and isolates analysed for phylogenetic placement. RESULTS Overall, samples of 1,004 animals of various rodent and shrew species were tested and 24 were found to be positive for herpesvirus DNA. Six of these samples contained strains of known viruses, while the other positive samples revealed DNA sequences putatively belonging to 11 previously undescribed herpesviruses. The new isolates are beta- and gammaherpesviruses and the shrew isolates appear to form a separate cluster within the Betaherpesvirinae subfamily. CONCLUSION The diversity of viruses detected is higher than in similar studies in Europe and Asia. The high diversity of rodent and shrew species occurring in central Africa may be the reason for a higher diversity in herpesviruses in this area.

中文翻译：

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中非野生啮齿动物和Sh物种的高疱疹病毒多样性。

目的疱疹病毒属于可导致人类和动物疾病的各种大型DNA病毒。为了收集有关中非野生啮齿动物和sh物种中疱疹病毒分布和多样性的信息，对喀麦隆和刚果民主共和国的动物进行了采样，并通过PCR检测了疱疹病毒DNA的存在。方法使用针对聚合酶或末端酶基因的广泛PCR进行病毒检测。对来自PCR的扩增产物进行测序，并对分离物进行系统发育分析。结果总体上，测试了1,004种各种啮齿动物和and物种的动物样品，发现24例疱疹病毒DNA呈阳性。这些样本中有六个包含已知病毒株，其他阳性样本则揭示了推测属于11种先前未描述的疱疹病毒的DNA序列。新的分离株是β-和γ-疱疹病毒，sh分离株似乎在Betaherpesvirinae亚科内形成了一个单独的簇。结论检测到的病毒的多样性高于欧洲和亚洲的类似研究。非洲中部地区啮齿动物和ent物种的多样性很高，这可能是该地区疱疹病毒多样性更高的原因。