title: Hantavirus transmission: potential role of ectoparasites.
abstract: Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is an often-fatal disease thought to be transmitted exclusively by rodents. We report the first evidence of hantavirus-specific RNA (Bayou) from two trombiculid mites (chiggers) and an ixodid tick parasitizing wild-caught rodents at a field site in Texas and also from a trombiculid mite in the free-living predatory stage of the chigger life cycle collected from the same site.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409-3131, USA. Marilyn.Houck@ttu.edu
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Houck
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: H R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Roberts
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001096:Arachnid Vectors / Q000821:virology*; D006476:Orthohantavirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D018778:Hantavirus Infections / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary*; D018884:Ixodes / Q000821:virology; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000302:isolation & purification; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000469:parasitology / Q000635:transmission* / Q000821:virology; D012377:Rodentia; D014324:Trombiculidae / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral