Eccard, J.

Imholt, C.

Jacob, J.

Kratzmann, N.

Reil, D.

Rosenfeld, U. M.

Schmidt, S.

Ulrich, R. G.

English

JKI Open Journal Systems (Julius Kühn-Institut)

Nachwuchswissenschaftlerforum / Young Scientists Meeting 2012 Reil et al. 8 Berichte aus dem Julius Kühn-Institut 167. 2012 Population dynamics of bank voles and human Puumala virus infections in Germany   Reil, D.1,3, Rosenfeld, U.M.2, Imholt, C.1, Schmidt, S.2, Kratzmann, N.2, Eccard, J.3, Ulrich, R.G.2, Jacob, J.1  1 Julius Kühn-Institute, Institute for Plant Protection in Horticulture and Forests, Vertebrate Research 2 Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Institute for Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases 3 University of Potsdam, Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, Animal Ecology Email of corresponding author: Daniela.Reil@jki.bund.de  The rodent-associated Puumala virus (PUUV), a hantavirus species, is widely spread in Europe. It is part of a series of zoonotic human pathogens and is transmitted by forest-living bank voles (Myodes glareolus). Infections with PUUV can cause Nephropathia epidemica (NE), a mild form of the hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). Its reservoir species, the bank vole, shows seasonal variations and multi-annual fluctua-tions in population size, which is partially related to climatic conditions. The number of human PUUV infections also fluctuates. Hence, years with high bank vole abundances might be related to a large number of notified PUUV infections in humans. The aim of our study is to closely investigate the potential correlations between climate, bank vole popula-tion dynamics and PUUV infections in humans and to use these correlations for predictive models. Since 2010, changes in population dynamics of forest rodents, especially bank voles, are monitored in several regions of Germany using Ugglan live traps. Each trapping site is sampled three times a year. Blood samples of each trapped individual are taken to serologically detect PUUV infections and to estimate the rate of PUUV seroprevalence in bank vole popula-tions. We were able to show a positive correlation between high numbers of human PUUV infections and high population densities of PUUV infected bank voles. Furthermore, we are analysing data on climate and bank vole abundance from several states of Germany by performing CART (classifi-cation and regression tree)-analyses to identify climate parameters that are clearly linked to changes in the population density of bank voles. On the basis of predicted climate data (Climate Service Center - Hamburg) we aim to make predictions about the population development of bank voles and finally about the risk of infection for humans with PUUV. This study is commissioned and funded by the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) within the Environment Research Plan of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) (grant number 3709 41 401) and the Robert Koch-Institute (grant number 1362/1-924).  

Population dynamics of bank voles and human Puumala virus infections in Germany

https://ojs.openagrar.de/index.php/BerichteJKI/article/download/2035/2415

Population dynamics of bank voles and human Puumala virus infections in Germany

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

JKI Open Journal Systems (Julius Kühn-Institut)