Geographic Distribution of Hantaviruses Associated with Neotomine and Sigmodontine Rodents, Mexico

Mary L Milazzo,Hannah E Romo,Charles F Fulhorst,Robert D Bradley,Jose G Estrada-Franco,Maria N.B Cajimat,L Ignacio Iñiguez-Dávalos

doi:10.3201/eid1804.111028

Abstract

To increase our knowledge of the geographic distribution of hantaviruses associated with neotomine or sigmodontine rodents in Mexico, we tested 876 cricetid rodents captured in 18 Mexican states (representing at least 44 species in the subfamily Neotominae and 10 species in the subfamily Sigmodontinae) for anti-hantavirus IgG. We found antibodies against hantavirus in 35 (4.0%) rodents. Nucleotide sequence data from 5 antibody-positive rodents indicated that Sin Nombre virus (the major cause of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome [HPS] in the United States) is enzootic in the Mexican states of Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, and Veracruz. However, HPS has not been reported from these states, which suggests that in northeastern Mexico, HPS has been confused with other rapidly progressive, life-threatening respiratory diseases. Analyses of nucleotide sequence data from 19 other antibody-positive rodents indicated that El Moro Canyon virus and Limestone Canyon virus are geographically widely distributed in Mexico.

Highlights

To increase our knowledge of the geographic distribution of hantaviruses associated with neotomine or sigmodontine rodents in Mexico, we tested 876 cricetid rodents captured in 18 Mexican states for anti-hantavirus IgG
In the southwestern United States, Limestone Canyon virus (LSCV), Sin Nombre virus (SNV), El Moro Canyon virus (ELMCV), and Muleshoe virus (MULV) are principally associated with rodents of the species P. boylii, P. maniculatus, R. megalotis, and S. hispidus, respectively [10,11,12,17], and that in Panama, Choclo virus (CHOV) is principally associated with O. fulvescens [18]
The blood samples were tested for IgG to Caño Delgadito virus (CADV) strain VHV-574 by using an ELISA in which CADV can be highly cross-reactive with SNV, Black Creek Canal virus (BCCV), and other North American hantaviruses [22]

Summary

Introduction

To increase our knowledge of the geographic distribution of hantaviruses associated with neotomine or sigmodontine rodents in Mexico, we tested 876 cricetid rodents captured in 18 Mexican states (representing at least 44 species in the subfamily Neotominae and 10 species in the subfamily Sigmodontinae) for anti-hantavirus IgG. The current principal host relationships of some hantaviruses seem to represent a long-term association between viruses in the genus Hantavirus and rodents in the family Cricetidae. Evidence for this ancient relationship includes the association of phylogenetically closely related hantavirus species with phylogenetically closely related allopatric rodent species. The rodent fauna of Mexico comprises the brush mouse (Peromyscus boylii), the deer mouse (P. maniculatus), the western harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys megalotis), the hispid cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus), the fulvous pygmy rice rat (Oligoryzomys fulvescens), and 122 other species in the Neotominae or Sigmodontinae [16]. LSCV, SNV, ELMCV, and/or MULV— in association with deer mice (Peromyscus spp.), harvest mice (Reithrodontomys spp.), or cotton rats (Sigmodon spp.)—are widely distributed in northern Mexico, and the hantavirus assemblage of southern Mexico includes CHOV or hantaviruses that are phylogenetically closely related to CHOV

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion