# Discovery and genetic characterization of novel paramyxoviruses from small mammals in Hubei Province, Central China

## TL;DR

This study discovers and characterizes new paramyxoviruses in small mammals in Hubei, China, revealing high prevalence and genetic diversity, especially within the Jeilongvirus genus.

## Contribution

The study reports the discovery of novel paramyxoviruses and provides insights into their genomic diversity and evolutionary patterns.

## Key findings

- 190 paramyxovirus sequences were identified from 969 small mammals in Hubei Province.
- Six near-full-length genomes were recovered, showing complex genomic organizations.
- Jeilongviruses showed frequent host-switching in their evolutionary history.

## Abstract

Paramyxoviruses are a group of single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses, some of which are responsible for acute human disease, including parainfluenza virus, measles virus, Nipah virus and Hendra virus. In recent years, a large number of novel paramyxoviruses, particularly members of the genus Jeilongvirus, have been discovered in wild mammals, suggesting that the diversity of paramyxoviruses may be underestimated. Here we used hemi-nested reverse transcription PCR to obtain 190 paramyxovirus sequences from 969 small mammals in Hubei Province, Central China. These newly identified paramyxoviruses were classified into four clades: genera Jeilongvirus, Morbillivirus, Henipavirus and Narmovirus, with most of them belonging to the genus Jeilongvirus. Using Illumina sequencing and Sanger sequencing, we successfully recovered six near-full-length genomes with different genomic organizations, revealing the more complex genome content of paramyxoviruses. Co-divergence analysis of jeilongviruses and their known hosts indicates that host-switching occurred more frequently in the evolutionary histories of the genus Jeilongvirus. Together, our findings demonstrate the high prevalence of paramyxoviruses in small mammals, especially jeilongviruses, and highlight the diversity of paramyxoviruses and their genome content, as well as the evolution of jeilongviruses.