Emergent diseases such as Hantavirus Cardio-pulmonary Syndrome (HCPS) are
able to create a significant impact on human populations due to their seriousness and
high fatality rate. Santa Catarina, located in the South of Brazil, is the leading
state for HCPS with 267 reported cases from 1999 to 2011. We present here a
serological survey on hantavirus in blood donors from different cities of the state
of Santa Catarina, with an IgG-ELISA using a recombinant nucleocapsid protein from
Araraquara hantavirus as an antigen. In total, 314 donors from blood banks
participated in the study, geographically covering the whole state. Among these, 14
individuals (4.4%) had antibodies to hantavirus: four of 50 (8% positivity) from
Blumenau, four of 52 (7.6%) from Joinville, three of 50 (6%) from Florianópolis, two
of 50 (4%) from Chapecó and one of 35 (2.8%) from Joaçaba. It is possible that
hantaviruses are circulating across almost the whole state, with important
epidemiological implications. Considering that the seropositive blood donors are
healthy individuals, it is possible that hantaviruses may be causing unrecognized
infections, which are either asymptomatic or clinically nonspecific, in addition to
HCPS. It is also possible that more than one hantavirus type could be circulating in
this region, causing mostly benign infections.