Seroepidemiologic studies of hantavirus infection among wild rodents in California

Emerg Infect Dis. 1997 Apr-Jun;3(2):183-90. doi: 10.3201/eid0302.970213.

Abstract

A total of 4,626 mammals were serologically tested for antibodies to Sin Nombre virus. All nonrodent species were antibody negative. Among wild rodents, antibody prevalence was 8.5% in murids, 1.4% in heteromyids, and < 0.1% in sciurids. Of 1,921 Peromyscus maniculatus (deer mice), 226 (11.8%) were antibody positive, including one collected in 1975. The highest antibody prevalence (71.4% of 35) was found among P. maniculatus on Santa Cruz Island, off the southern California coast. Prevalence of antibodies among deer mice trapped near sites of human cases (26.8% of 164) was significantly higher than that of mice from other sites (odds ratio = 4.5; 95% confidence interval = 1.7, 11.6). Antibody prevalence increased with rising elevation (> 1,200 meters) and correlated with a spatial cluster of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome cases in the Sierra Nevada.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antibodies, Viral / blood*
  • California / epidemiology
  • Hantavirus Infections / epidemiology
  • Hantavirus Infections / veterinary*
  • Humans
  • Orthohantavirus / immunology
  • Peromyscus
  • Rodent Diseases / epidemiology*

Substances

  • Antibodies, Viral