Hantavirus Infection Prevalence in Wild Rodents and Human Anti-Hantavirus Serological Profiles from Different Geographic Areas of South Brazil

• Published in: The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene Vol. 87; no. 2; pp. 371 - 378
• Main Authors: RABONI, Sonia M, DELFRARO, Adriana, D'ANDREA, Paulo S, DOS SANTOS, Claudia N. Duarte, DE BORBA, Luana, TEIXEIRA, Bernardo R, STELLA, Vanessa, DE ARAUJO, Marina R, CARSTENSEN, Suzana, RUBIO, Giselia, MARON, Angela, LEMOS, Elba R. S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Deerfield, IL American Society of Tropical Medecine and Hygiene 01-08-2012; The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
• Subjects: Adult; Akodon montensis; Animals; Antibodies, Viral - blood; Araucaria; Biological and medical sciences; Brazil - epidemiology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Ecosystem; Genotype; Hantavirus; Hantavirus - genetics; Hantavirus - isolation & purification; Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome - epidemiology; Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome - genetics; Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome - veterinary; Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome - virology; Humans; Infectious diseases; Medical sciences; Phylogeny; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction - veterinary; RNA, Viral - chemistry; RNA, Viral - genetics; Rodent Diseases - epidemiology; Rodent Diseases - virology; Rodentia; Seroepidemiologic Studies; South America; Brazil; America; Brazil, Parana; Virus; Human; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Prevalence; Bunyaviridae; Rodentia; Tropical medicine; Hantavirus; Epidemiology
• ISSN: 0002-9637; 1476-1645
• DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.2012.11-0762

Paraná state presents the fourth highest number of accumulated cases of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in Brazil. To map the risk areas for hantavirus transmission we carried out a study based on rodent trapping and determined the anti-hantavirus seroprevalence in these animals and in the inhabitants of these localities. Overall seroprevalence in rodents and humans were 2.5% and 2.4%, respectively. Eighty-two percent of the seropositive rodents were genetically analyzed. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that hantaviruses from rodent samples cluster with Araucária (Juquitiba-like) or Jaborá hantavirus genotypes. The Jaborá strain was identified in Akodon serrensis and Akodon montensis, whereas the Araucária strain was detected in Oligoryzomys nigripes, Oxymycterus judex, A. montensis, and Akodon paranaensis, with the latter species being identified for the first time as a natural host. These findings expose the complex relationships between virus and reservoirs in Brazil, which could have an impact on hantavirus transmission dynamics in nature and human epidemiology.