%0 Journal Article %T Phylogeographic Diversity of Pathogenic and Non-Pathogenic Hantaviruses in Slovenia %A Mi£¿a Korva %A Nata£¿a Knap %A Katarina Resman Rus %A Luka Fajs %A Ga£¿per Grubelnik %A Matejka Bremec %A Tea Knapi£¿ %A Tomi Trilar %A Tatjana Av£¿i£¿ £¿upanc %J Viruses %D 2013 %I MDPI AG %R 10.3390/v5123071 %X Slovenia is a very diverse country from a natural geography point of view, with many different habitats within a relatively small area, in addition to major geological and climatic differences. It is therefore not surprising that several small mammal species have been confirmed to harbour hantaviruses: A. flavicollis (Dobrava virus), A. agrarius (Dobrava virus¨CKurkino), M. glareolus (Puumala virus), S. areanus (Seewis virus), M. agrestis, M. arvalis and M. subterraneus (Tula virus). Three of the viruses, namely the Dobrava, Dobrava¨CKurkino and Puumala viruses, cause disease in humans, with significant differences in the severity of symptoms. Due to changes in haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome cases (HFRS) epidemiology, a detailed study on phylogenetic diversity and molecular epidemiology of pathogenic and non-pathogenic hantaviruses circulating in ecologically diverse endemic regions was performed. The study presents one of the largest collections of hantavirus L, M and S sequences obtained from hosts and patients within a single country. Several genetic lineages were determined for each hantavirus species, with higher diversity among non-pathogenic compared to pathogenic viruses. For pathogenic hantaviruses, a significant geographic clustering of human- and rodent-derived sequences was confirmed. Several geographic and ecological factors were recognized as influencing and limiting the formation of endemic areas. %K hantavirus %K Slovenia %K epidemiology %K genetic diversity %K phylogeography %U http://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/5/12/3071