I study the genetics of Puumalavirus in Sweden to deepen the understanding of its genetic diversity.
I am a PhD in Anne Tuiskunen Bäck lab, Puumala virus (PUUV) is widely distributed across Europe and highly endemic in northern Sweden, where it causes Nephropathia epidemica (NE) — a mild form of Haemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome, locally known as bank vole fever. The bank vole (Myodes glareolus) is the primary reservoir, and human transmission occurs via inhalation of aerosolized excreta. Cyclic fluctuations in bank vole populations drive NE incidence and the largest outbreak in Sweden was recorded in 2006–2007.
The role of PUUV genetic variation in outbreaks remains unknown, as sequencing primarily has focused only on short parts of the virus genome or been performed on cell-propagated virus. Our group previously developed a target-capture sequencing protocol and successfully generated complete wild-type PUUV genomes from human and vole isolates. We now aim to study the genetic diversity of PUUV across both temporal and spatial dimensions to better understand which genotypes circulate and if some genotypes are more prone to cause outbreaks.