Asama virus (ASAV) is a single-stranded, enveloped, negative-sense RNA hantavirus.

Natural reservoir

Asama virus was isolated through RNA extracts from lung tissues of the Japanese shrew mole (Urotrichus talpoides), captured in Japan between February and April 2008. It is one of the first hantaviruses found in a mole.

Virology

Asama virus is genetically closer to other hantaviruses harbored by shrews than by rodents. However, the nucleocapsid protein is similar to that of rodent and shrew-borne hantaviruses. Phylogenetic analyses positions it closest to soricine shrew-borne hantaviruses. This suggests a possible host-switching event in the distant past.


source - Wikipedia