Recent Evidence of Hantavirus Circulation in the American Tropic

Abstract

Hantaan virus was discovered in Korea during the 1970s while other similar viruses were later reported in Asia and Europe. There was no information about hantavirus human infection in the Americas until 1993 when an outbreak was described in the United States. This event promoted new studies to find hantaviruses in the Americas. At first, many studies were conducted in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay, while other Latin American countries began to report the presence of these agents towards the end of the 20th century. More than 30 hantaviruses have been reported in the Western Hemisphere with more frequent cases registered in the southern cone (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil). However there was an important outbreak in 2000 in Panama and some rare events have been described in Peru, Venezuela and French Guiana. Since hantaviruses have only recently emerged as a potential threat in the tropical zones of the Americas, this review compiles recent hantavirus reports in Central America, the Caribbean islands and the northern region of South America. These studies have generated the discovery of new hantaviruses and could help to anticipate the presentation of possible future outbreaks in the region.

Emerging Viruses in the Republic of Suriname: Retrospective and Prospective Study into Chikungunya Circulation and Suspicion of Human Hantavirus Infections, 2008–2012 and 2014

“…Currently, no data are available regarding the exact rodent species present in Suriname. Data from French Guiana, located on the eastern border of Suriname, showed the circulation and human cases of Maripa hantavirus infection, closely related to Rio Mamore hantavirus which circulates in Brazil (Montoya-Ruiz et al 2014). Furthermore, a recent publication described the circulation of both Araraquara and Juquitiba virus in a region in Brazil closely to the southern border of Suriname (de Aurujo et al 2015).…”

“…Pathogenic hantaviruses are able to cause two types of disease in humans, hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in Europe and Asia and hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS) in North and South America (Figueiredo et al 2014). In South America, many New World hantaviruses are able to cause often clustered and small outbreaks of HCPS, of which Andes virus (ANDV) seems the most widespread (Matheus et al 2010, Montoya-Ruiz et al 2014, Munoz-Zanzi et al 2015. Furthermore, another country neighboring Suriname on the southern border, Brazil, has shown the highest number of hantavirus outbreaks in recent years and reservoir species have been identified in Akodon and Oligoryzomys species , Teixeira et al 2014.…”

Infecciones por hantavirus

“…In the Americas, wild rodents of the family Cricetidae (subfamilies Sigmodontinae, Arvicolinae, and Neotominae) are hosts of hantaviruses and arenaviruses are (12), with the exception of the Tacaribe arenavirus, isolated from a frugivorous bat of the Artibeus genus (13) ( Table 1). The infection in these rodents is persistent, with little or no symptoms.…”

Orthohantavirus pulmonary syndrome in Santa Cruz and Tarija, Bolivia, 2018

“…Nevertheless, only a limited number of studies on these infections have been performed in certain countries. In Bolivia, South America, fewer than 20 studies about hantaviruses, in any field of knowledge, have been published (Montgomery et al, 2012;Montoya-Ruiz et al, 2014). A study performed in 2002 but published in 2012 is currently the most recent available description of a hantavirus outbreak in the country (Montgomery et al, 2012).…”