Hantavirus and arenavirus antibody prevalence in rodents and humans in Trentino, Northern Italy

Abstract

The spatial and temporal distribution of hantavirus and arenavirus antibody-positive wild rodents in Trentino, Italy, was studied using immunofluorescence assays (IFA) in two long-term sites trapped in 2000-2003, and six other sites trapped in 2002. The overall hantavirus seroprevalence in the bank voles, Clethrionomys glareolus (n=229) screened for Puumala virus (PUUV) antibodies was 0.4%, and that for Apodemus flavicollis mice (n=1416) screened for Dobrava virus (DOBV) antibodies was 0.2%. Antibodies against lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) were found in 82 (5.6%) of the 1472 tested rodents; the seroprevalence being 6.1% in A. flavicollis (n=1181), 3.3% in C. glareolus (n=276), and 14.3% in Microtus arvalis (n=7). Of the serum samples of 488 forestry workers studied by IFA, 12 were LCMV-IgG positive (2.5%) and one DOBV-IgG positive (0.2%), however, the latter could not be confirmed DOBV-specific with a neutralization assay. Our results show a widespread distribution but low prevalence of DOBV in Trentino, and demonstrate that the arenavirus antibodies are a common finding in several other rodent species besides the house mouse.

Lymphocytic choriomeningitis, Ljungan and orthopoxvirus seroconversions in patients hospitalized due to acute Puumala hantavirus infection

“…These are the first data on LCMV seroprevalence in Finland, and higher than that reported from other countries such as Spain (1.7%), the Netherlands (2.9%), and Italy (2.5% [17]. This higher value is likely the result of increased rodent exposure, since the sample pool was derived from patients hospitalized as a result of another rodent-borne virus (PUUV).…”

“…Serum samples from acute NE patients were analysed by IFA tests for the presence of LCMV, LV and OPV reactive IgG antibodies based on previously described and validated methods [33,17,14], using Vero E6 cells infected with LCMV (strain Armstrong), and Vero cells infected with or LV (strain LV 145 SLG; Johansson et al, 2003 or CPXV (strain CPXV/FIN/T2000, human isolate; [33]. Sera were diluted 1:20 in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) for initial screening, added to IFA-slides, and incubated in a moist chamber at 37 • C for 30 min.…”

“…The relevant rodentborne viruses include Puumala hantavirus (PUUV), orthopoxvirus (OPV), lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV), and Ljungan virus (LV) [1,17,14,41,12]. While many studies have investigated the clinical outcomes of human disease following infection with PUUV (e.g.…”

“…Chronically infected laboratory and companion mice and hamsters, in addition to wild house mice (Mus musculus), are considered to be the primary sources of LCMV infection in humans, and acquired via exposure to rodent excreta [9,6,4,1]. The virus has also been detected in other wild rodents, with prevalence in bank voles reported as 3.3% in the Province of Trento in Italy [17] and 7.4% in northern Italy [38]. In Finland, no previous studies have examined the seroprevalence of LCMV among humans; however, a low seroprevalence for LCMV has been noted among human patients in Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Viet Nam, USA and Canada [8,21,10,20,17,25].…”

“…The virus has also been detected in other wild rodents, with prevalence in bank voles reported as 3.3% in the Province of Trento in Italy [17] and 7.4% in northern Italy [38]. In Finland, no previous studies have examined the seroprevalence of LCMV among humans; however, a low seroprevalence for LCMV has been noted among human patients in Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Viet Nam, USA and Canada [8,21,10,20,17,25].…”