Hantavirus del Nuevo Mundo. Ecología y epidemiología de un virus emergente en Latinoamérica / The new-world hantaviruses. Ecology and epidemiology of an emerging virus in Latin America

The hantaviruses are a group of emerging rodent-borne pathogens (family Bunyaviridae; Genus Hantavirus) that are etiologic agents for hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in Europe and Asia and hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS) in the Americas. HFRS is associated with rodents of the family Muridae, subfamilies Murinae and Arvicolinae; HPS is associated with rodents of the subfamily Sigmodontinae. Since the identification of HCPS in USA in 1993, a large number of cases of HPS and an increasing number of hantaviruses and rodent reservoir hosts have been identified in Central and South America. Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated important differences in frequency of infection with hantaviruses in both human and rodent host populations. Antibody prevalences in rodent and human populations may vary from less than 1% to more than 40%. Currently, more than 1500 cases of HCPS have been reported and more than 15 genetically distinct variants of hantaviruses, all associated with sigmodontine rodents, have been identified throughout the Americas. Several characteristics distinguish Latin American HCPS cases from the classical HCPS described for the first time in the USA. These include a variation in severity of disease from moderate and self-limiting to severe, the demonstration of person-to-person transmission, and a somewhat higher incidence of extrapulmonary clinical manifestations in the South American form of HCPS. Nevertheless, our understanding of hantaviruses in the Americas is still far from complete. The factors involved in the dynamics of these viruses in nature, their establishment and transmission within host populations and from hosts to humans, and the variable pathology of these viruses in humans are complex. It is likely that more hantaviruses will be described in the future, and much more data will be required in order to describe the diversity and evolution of this group of pathogens. Latin America, as the center of diversity for...

Los hantavirus son un grupo de patógenos emergentes (familia Bunyaviridae; género Hantavirus)identificados como agentes etiológicos de la Fiebre Hemorrágica con Síndrome Renal (FHSR) en Europa y Asia y el Síndrome Cardiopulmonar por Hantavirus (SCPH) en las Américas. La FHSR está relacionada con roedores de las subfamilias Murinae y Arvicolinae y el SCPH con roedores de las subfamiliasSigmodontinae y Arvicolinae. Desde la identificación del SCPH en los EE.UU. en 1993, muchos casos de SCPHy un número cada vez mayor de hantavirus y sus roedores reservorios han sido identificados en Centro y SudAmérica. Estudios epidemiológicos han demostrado diferencias notables en las seroprevalencias de anticuerposen humanos y roedores reservorios que oscilan entre el 1% y más del 40%. Hasta ahora han sido notificadosen toda América más de 1500 casos de SCPH y aproximadamente más de 15 variantes de hantavirus genéticay serológicamente distintos asociados a roedores sigmodontinos. Las formas clínicas leves-autolimitadas, moderadasy graves de la enfermedad, los antecedentes de transmisión persona a persona y una incidencia mayorde manifestaciones clínicas extrapulmonares que se diferencian de la enfermedad clásica descrita por primera vez en EE.UU., son aspectos importantes sobre la epidemiología de los hantavirus y el SCPH enLatinoamérica; sin embargo, la historia completa de los hantavirus está aún por escribirse, debido a la naturalezadinámica de estos virus y sus patologías, y a la complejidad de los factores que intervienen en su aparición, establecimiento y diseminación en poblaciones humanas y animales. Latinoamérica continúa representando laporción del continente con una oportunidad única y desafiante para el ...

Serologic survey for hantavirus infections among wild animals in rural areas of Säo Paulo State, Brazil

A serosurvey was conducted in wild animals captured close to two areas where hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS) occurred in Säo Paulo State, Brazil. Serum samples from a total of 43 mammals were tested for antibodies reactive with Sin Nombre (SN) hantavirus using a strip immunoblot assay. RNAs from the blood clots of the positive samples were submitted to reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Two rodents of the genus Oligoryzomys were positive for hantavirus antibodies. These animals were captured in the Iguape region and represented 16.7 percent (2/12) of the sera from rodents and 100.0 percent (2/2) of the Oligoryzomys captured in that area. RT-PCR failed to amplify any viral cDNA. These results are in agreement with other data that suggest that members of this genus are important reservoirs of hantaviruses in Brazil