title: Serologic and genetic identification of Peromyscus maniculatus as the primary rodent reservoir for a new hantavirus in the southwestern United States.
abstract: An outbreak of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in the southwestern United States was etiologically linked to a newly recognized hantavirus. Knowledge that hantaviruses are maintained in rodent reservoirs stimulated a field and laboratory investigation of 1696 small mammals of 31 species. The most commonly captured rodent, the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus), had the highest antibody prevalence (30%) to four hantavirus antigens. Antibody also was detected in 10 other species of rodent and in 1 species of rabbit. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) products of hantavirus from rodent tissues were indistinguishable from those from human HPS patients. More than 96% of the seropositive P. maniculatus were positive by RT-PCR, suggesting chronic infection. Antibody prevalences were similar among P. maniculatus trapped from Arizona (33%), New Mexico (29%), and Colorado (29%). The numeric dominance of P. maniculatus, the high prevalence of antibody, and the RT-PCR findings implicate this species as the primary rodent reservoir for a new hantavirus in the southwestern United States.
authors.affiliation: Viral and Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333.
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Childs
authors.forename: T G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Ksiazek
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Spiropoulou
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Krebs
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morzunov
authors.forename: G O
authors.initials: GO
authors.lastname: Maupin
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Gage
authors.forename: P E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Rollin
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sarisky
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Enscore
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D001483:Base Sequence; D004279:DNA, Viral; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D005260:Female; D006476:Orthohantavirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008297:Male; D008322:Mammals / Q000382:microbiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010542:Peromyscus / Q000382:microbiology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015206:Southwestern United States
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D004279:DNA, Viral