Serological survey of hantavirus in rodents in Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil

• Published in: Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo
• Main Authors: Jean Ezequiel Limongi, Fernando Guimarães Moreira, Joel Batista Peres, Akemi Suzuki, Ivani Bisordi Ferreira, Renato Pereira Souza, Rogério Melo Costa Pinto, Luiz Eloy Pereira
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade de São Paulo (USP) 2013
• Subjects: Hantavirus; Rodentia; Brazil; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/S0036-46652013000300003; https://doaj.org/article/d05df15e15864a548cb5cfaf76af8593

We conducted a serological survey to determine the presence of hantavirus infection in rodents in Uberlândia, Minas Gerais as well as to identify and characterize associated factors. Rodents were captured using Sherman live-capture traps set in rural and peri-urban environments. A total of 611 rodents were captured. There was a higher trap success in peri-urban areas (26.3%) and a higher prevalence of antibodies among rodents captured in rural areas (2.9%). Necromys lasiurus was the most common species (42.2%) and the more frequently infected (4.6%). One Calomys tener (1/141; 0.7%) and one Calomys sp. (1/14; 7.1%) were also positive for the hantavirus infection. In N. lasiurus, antibody prevalence correlated with population density (p < 0.01), age class (p = 0.003) and presence of scars (p = 0.02). The data confirm that horizontal transmission is the main mechanism that maintains the virus in nature. The higher seropositivity in N. lasiurus is consistent with genetic studies that associate this species with an Araraquara virus reservoir; the seropositivity of C. tener and Calomys sp. may indicate the occurrence of spillover infection or the presence of other circulating hantaviruses.