Differences in genetic structuring of populations of the Argentine hemorrhagic fever reservoir, the rodent Calomys musculinus , from endemic and non endemic zones

Abstract

We estimated the effective population size and genetic structuring within populations of the rodent reservoir of Argentine Hemorrhagic Fever, Calomys musculinus, from zones with different epidemiologic condition (non endemic, historic and epidemic). We found that populations from epidemic zones presented higher effective sizes, higher differentiation among subpopulations and higher levels of internal relatedness than in non-endemic zones. These results would explain the maintenance of the virus in populations from epidemic zones and the patchy distribution of infected rodents.