Department of Research in Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Gorgas Memorial Institute of Health Studies, Panama City 0816-02593, Panama.
Department of Vector Control-Herrera Health Region, Ministry of Health, Panama City 0843-03441, Panama.
Viruses. 2023 Jun 17;15(6):1390. doi: 10.3390/v15061390.
The Costa Rican pygmy rice rat () is the primary reservoir of (CHOV), the causal agent of hantavirus disease, pulmonary syndrome, and fever in humans in Panama. Since the emergence of CHOV in early 2000, we have systematically sampled and archived rodents from >150 sites across Panama to establish a baseline understanding of the host and virus, producing a permanent archive of holistic specimens that we are now probing in greater detail. We summarize these collections and explore preliminary habitat/virus associations to guide future wildlife surveillance and public health efforts related to CHOV and other zoonotic pathogens. Host sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome gene form a single monophyletic clade in Panama, despite wide distribution across Panama. Seropositive samples were concentrated in the central region of western Panama, consistent with the ecology of this agricultural commensal and the higher incidence of CHOV in humans in that region. Hantavirus seroprevalence in the pygmy rice rat was >15% overall, with the highest prevalence in agricultural areas (21%) and the lowest prevalence in shrublands (11%). Host-pathogen distribution, transmission dynamics, genomic evolution, and habitat affinities can be derived from the preserved samples, which include frozen tissues, and now provide a foundation for expanded investigations of orthohantaviruses in Panama.
哥斯达黎加侏囊鼠（）是中美洲汉坦病毒（CHOV）的主要宿主，而 CHOV 是导致巴拿马人类汉坦病毒肺综合征和发热的病原体。自 2000 年初 CHOV 出现以来，我们系统地对巴拿马 150 多个地点的啮齿动物进行了采样和存档，以建立对宿主和病毒的基本了解，为进一步研究提供了整体标本的永久存档。我们总结了这些采集结果，并探讨了初步的栖息地/病毒关联，以指导未来与 CHOV 和其他人畜共患病病原体相关的野生动物监测和公共卫生工作。尽管在巴拿马广泛分布，但线粒体细胞色素 c 基因的宿主序列在巴拿马形成了一个单一的单系分支。血清阳性样本集中在巴拿马西部的中心区域，这与这种农业共生体的生态学以及该地区人类中 CHOV 的更高发病率一致。侏囊鼠的汉坦病毒血清阳性率总体上超过 15%，在农业区（21%）最高，在灌木区（11%）最低。宿主-病原体的分布、传播动态、基因组进化和栖息地亲和力都可以从保存的样本中推断出来，这些样本包括冷冻组织，现在为巴拿马正汉坦病毒的扩展研究提供了基础。
