Transmission of an arenavirus in white-throated woodrats (Neotoma albigula), southeastern Colorado, 1995-1999.

From 1995 to 1999, we conducted longitudinal studies of white- throated woodrats (Neotoma albigula) in southeastern Colorado. Forty-five (42.9%) of 105 female and 15 (26.8%) of 56 male N. albigula had antibodies against Whitewater Arroyo virus (WWAV). Sixteen female and three male N. albigula seroconverted during the study period, most of them during July-November, when population densities are highest. Analyses of longevity data, minimum numbers alive and infected, movements, and weight data suggest that the dominant mode of WWAV transmission among white-throated woodrats in Colorado is direct contact. WWAV was recently reported to cause fatal infection in humans. Our findings will lead to better assessment of the public health threat posed by infected woodrats and may be useful in predicting periods of increased risk for human infection

Dual captures of Colorado rodents: implications for transmission of hantaviruses.

We analyzed dual-capture data collected during longitudinal studies monitoring transmission and persistence of Sin Nombre virus in rodents in Colorado. Our data indicate that multiple captures (two or more rodents captured in a single trap) may not be random, as indicated by previous studies, but rather the result of underlying, species-specific social behavior or cohesiveness. In the pairs we captured, most often, rodents were of the same species, were male, and could be recaptured as pairs. Therefore, dual captures of rodents, which are unusual but not rare, tend to occur among certain species, and appear to be nonrandom, group-foraging encounters. These demographic and ecologic characteristics may have implications for the study of the transmission of hantaviruses

Rapid Field Immunoassay for Detecting Antibody to Sin Nombre Virus in Deer Mice

We developed a 1-hour field enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for detecting antibody to Sin Nombre virus in deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus). The assay specificity and sensitivity were comparable to those of a standard EIA. This test will permit identification of rodents with antibody to this and perhaps other hantaviruses

How much effort is required to accurately describe the complex ecology of a rodent‐borne viral disease?

We use data collected on 18, 1-ha live trapping grids monitored from 1994 through 2005 and on five of those grids through 2013 in the mesic northwestern United States to illustrate the complexity of the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus)/Sin Nombre virus (SNV) host-pathogen system. Important factors necessary to understand zoonotic disease ecology include those associated with distribution and population dynamics of reservoir species as well as infection dynamics. Results are based on more than 851,000 trap nights, 16,608 individual deer mice and 10,572 collected blood samples. Deer mice were distributed throughout every habitat we sampled and were present during every sampling period in all habitats except high altitude habitats over 1900 m. Abundance varied greatly among locations with peak numbers occurring mostly during fall. However, peak rodent abundance occurred during fall, winter and spring during various years on three grids trapped 12 months/yr. Prevalence of antibodies to SNV averaged 3.9% to 22.1% but no grids had mice with antibodies during every month. The maximum period without antibody-positive mice ranged from 1 to 52 months, or even more at high altitude grids where deer mice were not always present. Months without antibody-positive mice were more prevalent during fall than spring. Population fluctuations were not synchronous over broad geographic areas and antibody prevalences were not well spatially consistent, differing greatly over short distances. We observed an apparently negative, but nonstatistically significant relationship between average antibody prevalence and average deer mouse population abundance and a statistically significant positive relationship between the average number of antibody positive mice and average population abundance. We present data from which potential researchers can estimate the effort required to adequately describe the ecology of a rodentborne viral system. We address different factors affecting population dynamics and hantavirus antibody prevalence and discuss the path to understanding a complex rodent-borne disease system as well as the obstacles in that path.Fil: Douglass, Richard J.. University of Montana; Estados UnidosFil: Vadell, María Victoria. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones e Ingeniería Ambiental. Laboratorio de Ecología de Enfermedades Transmitidas por Vectores; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin