Hantavirus and arenavirus antibody prevalence in rodents and humans in Trentino, Northern Italy.
The spatial and temporal distribution of hantavirus and arenavirus antibody-positive wild rodents in Trentino, Italy, was studied using immunofluorescence assays (IFA) in two long-term sites trapped in 2000-2003, and six other sites trapped in 2002. The overall hantavirus seroprevalence in the bank voles, Clethrionomys glareolus (n=229) screened for Puumala virus (PUUV) antibodies was 0.4%, and that for Apodemus flavicollis mice (n=1416) screened for Dobrava virus (DOBV) antibodies was 0.2%. Antibodies against lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) were found in 82 (5.6%) of the 1472 tested rodents; the seroprevalence being 6.1% in A. flavicollis (n=1181), 3.3% in C. glareolus (n=276), and 14.3% in Microtus arvalis (n=7). Of the serum samples of 488 forestry workers studied by IFA, 12 were LCMV-IgG positive (2.5%) and one DOBV-IgG positive (0.2%), however, the latter could not be confirmed DOBV-specific with a neutralization assay. Our results show a widespread distribution but low prevalence of DOBV in Trentino, and demonstrate that the arenavirus antibodies are a common finding in several other rodent species besides the house mouse.
Kallio-Kokko
H
H
Department of Virology, Haartman Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland. Hannimari.Kallio-Kokko@helsinki.fi
Laakkonen
J
J
Rizzoli
A
A
Tagliapietra
V
V
Cattadori
I
I
Perkins
S E
SE
Hudson
P J
PJ
Cristofolini
A
A
Versini
W
W
Vapalahti
O
O
Vaheri
A
A
Henttonen
H
H
D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D018050:Arenavirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D004199:Disease Vectors; D005260:Female; D006476:Orthohantavirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012377:Rodentia / Q000821:virology*
D000914:Antibodies, Viral