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

<i>Hantaviridae</i> (order <i>Bunyavirales</i>) 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 (<i>Neomys fodiens</i>), the principal host of Boginia virus (BOGV). Genetic analysis of the complete L- and M-genomic segments 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 <i>Mobatvirus</i> genus, and that BIRV 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.