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DISPATCHESnucleocapsid of >12% (>20% for both viruses), presence ofspecific host species, and existence of laboratory isolates.These properties indicate that MRTV and OKAV representdistinct arenavirus species.These 2 viruses were found in the same host specieslocated within a radius of 300 km. MRTV was found inonly 1 sample (of 266); OKAV was detected in samplesfrom 3 animals. Although more unlikely for OKAV thanfor MRTV, the possibility of a spillover infection to M. namaquensisfrom a still unknown reservoir host cannot beruled out for either virus.The Namaqua rock mouse’s habitat includes the treeand shrub savannahs of Namibia and most parts of southernAfrica, including Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe,and parts of Mozambique (15). These locations implythe possible occurrence of MRTV or OKAV in largerregions of the continent. Cell culture isolates and genomicsequence data are the first prerequisites for evaluating thepublic health relevance of these new viruses. Our findingsextend the knowledge of geographic distribution and geneticdiversity of arenaviruses in Africa.AcknowledgmentsWe thank C. Chimimba for advice in small mammal systematics,P. Chimwamurombe for advice during preliminary screening forarenaviruses, and C. Priemer for technical support.Trapping in Namibia was carried out under research permit nos.1572/2011, 1666/2012 and 1794/2013, granted by Namibia’sMinistry of Environment and Tourism.This study was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft(grant KR1293/13-1) and by the Slovak Research andDevelopment Agency under the contract no. DO7RP-0008-09.Dr. Witkowski is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute ofVirology of the Charité Medical School in Berlin, Germany. Hisresearch interests are viral emerging infectious diseases on theAfrican continent and their clinical impact and evolution.References1. Günther S, Lenz O. Lassa virus. Crit Rev Clin Lab Sci.2004;41:339–90. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/104083604904974562. 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In: Büchen-Osmond C, editor.The Universal Virus Database, version 4. New York: ColumbiaUniversity, 2006 [cited 2014 Aug 11]. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ICTVdb/Ictv/fs_index.htm15. Coetzee N, Griffin M, Taylor PJ. Aethomys namaquensis. In:The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List ofThreatened Species. Version 2014.1. 2014 [cited 2014 Aug 11].www.iucnredlist.orgAddress for correspondence: Peter T. Witkowski, Institute of Virology,Charité Medical School, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany; email:peter.witkowski@charite.de1216 Emerging Infectious Diseases • www.cdc.gov/eid • Vol. 21, No. 7, July 2015