An interdisciplinary approach to assess human health risk in an urban environment: A case study in temperate Argentina

Unplanned urbanization increases the exposure of people to environmental hazards. Within a landscape ecology framework, this study is a diagnosis of human health risk in San Martín, an urban district of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Risk was estimated by combining four hazard indexes (water and air pollution, and mosquito and rodent infestation) and a vulnerability index. Each index was obtained by integrating environmental and socio-demographic layers in a Geographic Information System. Spatial autocorrelation was assessed for each hazard, vulnerability and risk indexes using Moran's tests. Also, spatial associations between pairs of variables were addressed by means of Geographically Weighted Regressions. The robustness of hazard and vulnerability indexes was checked by a sensitivity analysis. In General San Martín district, 83.3% of the population is exposed to relatively high levels of at least one hazard; 7.4% is exposed to relatively high levels of all hazards (11.5% of the total area) and only 16.7% lives in areas of relatively low levels of all hazards (15.4% of the total area). Areas where hazard intensity was relatively high corresponded to those areas where the most vulnerable population lives, enhancing human health risk. The models for hazards and vulnerability were reasonably robust to changes in the weights of the variables considered. Our results highlight the spatially heterogeneous nature of human health risk in an urban landscape, and reveal the location of critical risk hotspots where reduction or mitigation actions should be focused.Fil: Morandeira, Natalia Soledad. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental; ArgentinaFil: Castesana, Paula Soledad. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional; ArgentinaFil: Cardo, María Victoria. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental; ArgentinaFil: Salomone, Vanesa Natalia. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental; ArgentinaFil: Vadell, María Victoria. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental; ArgentinaFil: Rubio, Alejandra. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental; Argentin

Assessment of Environmental Hazards to Public Health in Temperate Urban Argentina

Human health risk in urban areas depends on multiple environmental features. We performed a year-round survey in a highly urbanized district located in temperate Argentina (General San Martín, Buenos Aires) to establish baseline information about environmental hazards associated with health risks. Sampling was stratified into low and high hazardous zones according to estimated indexes previously developed for the area for four hazards: drinking water and air pollution, and mosquito and rodent infestation. Water from wells showed lower concentrations of aluminum, manganese and iron, and higher values of arsenic than tap samples, with the latter showing records above the maximum permitted for arsenic, aluminum and chromium. Benzene concentration in air was higher in summer than in winter, and in areas close to dumps and landfills, gas stations, high traffic pathways and industries with respect to low hazard areas. Adult mosquito collections were more abundant in high hazardous areas, three species from the genus Culex dominated the captures and the proportion of individuals from each species was variable seasonally and spatially. Rodent activity was recorded inside and outside dwellings, and its observed values did not differ between low and high hazardous areas. In the comparison between field data and estimated hazard maps, high accuracy was obtained for air pollution maps, intermediate accuracy for water pollution and mosquito infestation, and poor accuracy for rodent infestation. How to improve field surveys and estimated maps are both discussed, highlighting the need for dynamic feedback between GIS-based models and environmental monitoring.Fil: Vadell, María Victoria. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigación en Ingeniería Ambiental; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Salomone, Vanesa Natalia. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental; ArgentinaFil: Castesana, Paula Soledad. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigación en Ingeniería Ambiental; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; ArgentinaFil: Morandeira, Natalia Soledad. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigación en Ingeniería Ambiental; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Rubio, Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigación en Ingeniería Ambiental; ArgentinaFil: Cardo, María Victoria. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental; Argentin

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 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; ArgentinaFil: Vadell, María Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Administracion Nacional de Laboratorios E Institutos de Salud "dr. Carlos G. Malbran". Instituto Nacional de Medicina Tropical.; ArgentinaFil: Bellomo, Carla María. Dirección Nacional de Instituto de Investigación. Adm.nacional de Laboratorio E Instituto de Salud "dr.c.g.malbran". Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas. Departamento de Virologia; ArgentinaFil: Martinez, Valeria Paula. Dirección Nacional de Instituto de Investigación. Adm.nacional de Laboratorio E Instituto de Salud "dr.c.g.malbran". Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas. Departamento de Virologia; ArgentinaFil: Salomón, Oscar Daniel. 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; ArgentinaFil: Gomez Villafañe, Isabel Elisa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; Argentin

Environmental variables associated with hantavirus reservoirs and other small rodent species in two national parks in the Paraná delta, Argentina: Implications for disease prevention

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) is a severe zoonotic disease caused by hantaviruses hosted in various rodents species. In Argentina, its transmission to humans has been associated to exposure during activities such as farming, recreation, and tourism which are carried out in wild and rural areas. The aim of this study was to analyze the macro- and micro-habitat use and spatio–temporal variation of small sylvan rodents in Pre Delta and Islas de Santa Fe national parks, located in an HPS-endemic area of Argentina. Rodent communities were studied at six sites: two islands, a riparian forest, an inland forest, a marsh, and the margins of a pond. A total of 453 individuals of five species were captured with a trapping effort of 9471 trap-nights. Maximum species richness was found at the marsh and the pond margin sites. Abundance of rodents was influenced by flooding events. Two hantavirus reservoirs, Oligoryzomys flavescens and Akodon azarae, were identified in the area. O. flavescens was captured in every habitat, but it was dominant in Islas de Santa Fe National Park where its abundance was strongly influenced by flooding. A. azarae was captured in every habitat except on the islands. A. azarae behaved as a generalist species at a micro-habitat scale in every habitat of Pre Delta National Park except for the marsh where it selected patches with low vegetation height. Based on these results, several disease prevention measures, including the use of rodent-proof containers for food, and keeping the grass short in the camp site, are proposed in order to reduce the risk to visitors and residents of contracting HPS.Fil: Vadell, María Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones e Ingeniería Ambiental. Laboratorio de Ecología de Enfermedades Transmitidas por Vectores; ArgentinaFil: Gomez Villafañe, Isabel Elisa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución. Laboratorio de Ecología de Poblaciones; Argentin

Hantavirus infection and biodiversity in the Americas

Species diversity has been proposed to decrease prevalence of disease in a wide variety of host'pathogen systems, in a phenomenon labeled the dilution effect. This phenomenon was first proposed and tested for vector-borne diseases but was later extended to directly transmitted parasite systems such as hantavirus. Though there seems to be clear evidence for the dilution effect in some hantavirus/rodent systems, the generality of this hypothesis remains debated. In the present meta-analysis, we examined the evidence supporting the dilution effect for hantavirus/rodent systems in the Americas. General linear models employed on data from 56 field studies identified the abundance of the reservoir rodent species and its relative proportion in the community as the only relevant variables explaining the prevalence of antibodies against hantavirus in the reservoir. Thus, we found no clear support for the dilution effect hypothesis for hantavirus/rodent systems in the Americas.Fil: Vadell, María Victoria. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigación en Ingeniería Ambiental; Argentina. Ministerio de Salud. Instituto Nacional de Medicina Tropical; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste; ArgentinaFil: Gomez Villafañe, Isabel Elisa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Carbajo, Anibal Eduardo. Universidad Nacional de San Martin. Instituto de Investigacion E Ingenieria Ambiental. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Oficina de Coordinacion Administrativa Pque. Centenario. Instituto de Investigacion E Ingenieria Ambiental.; Argentin

Rodent Abundance and Hantavirus Infection in Protected Area, East-Central Argentina

We captured 3 hantavirus rodent hosts in Otamendi Natural Reserve, Argentina, during 2007–2012. Hantavirus antibodies were found only in Akodon azarae grass mice, mainly in males and old animals. Higher abundance of this species was associated with warm and rainy weather and high water levels, which peaked after a strong El Niño event