First Evidence of Akodon-Borne Orthohantavirus in Northeastern Argentina

Orthohantaviruses (genus Orthohantavirus, family Hantaviridae) are the etiologic agents of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome in the Americas. In South America, orthohantaviruses are highly diverse and are hosted by sigmodontine rodents (subfamiliy Sigmodontinae, family Cricetidae), an also diverse group...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:EcoHealth
Main Authors: Burgos, Eliana Florencia, Vadell, María Victoria, Bellomo, Carla María, Martinez, Valeria Paula, Salomón, Oscar Daniel, Gomez Villafañe, Isabel Elisa
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Springer
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Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/181083
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Summary:Orthohantaviruses (genus Orthohantavirus, family Hantaviridae) are the etiologic agents of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome in the Americas. In South America, orthohantaviruses are highly diverse and are hosted by sigmodontine rodents (subfamiliy Sigmodontinae, family Cricetidae), an also diverse group of rodents. The aims of this work were to (1) identify orthohantavirus hosts and (2) to study the spatial and temporal variations in the prevalence of infection and their associations with community, environmental and individual characteristics, in different environments of Misiones province, northeastern Argentina. Live-capture sessions were carried out during two years in different land uses, with a trapping effort of 31,653 trap nights. We captured 719 individuals from the species Akodon montensis, Rattus rattus, Mus musculus, Calomys tener, Thaptomys nigrita, Oligoryzomys nigripes, Euryoryzomys russatus, Oligoryzomys flavescens, Brucepattersonius sp., and Juliomys pictipes. Antibodies against orthohantavirus were detected in Akodon montensis in one natural protected and one periurban areas, and it was the most abundant species in almost every study sites. We observed the presence of spatial focality of orthohantavirus infection and a positive association with host abundance suggesting the existence of a threshold density. At the individual level, large, reproductively active, and male individuals were more likely to have antibodies against orthohantavirus. This is the first record of orthohantavirus infection in A. montensis in Argentina, which shows the importance of investigations about emerging diseases. Fil: Burgos, Eliana Florencia. Administracion Nacional de Laboratorios E Institutos de Salud "dr. Carlos G. Malbran". Instituto Nacional de Medicina Tropical.; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Vadell, María Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Administracion Nacional de Laboratorios E Institutos de Salud "dr. ...