Spanish and English A review of Hantavirus research and discoveries in Paraguay, 1995 - 2022
Hantavirus en Paraguay, 1995-2022
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32480/rscp.2023.28.2.397Keywords:
epidemiology, field research, habitat, host-virus ecology, long-term research, reassortment, sympatryAbstract
Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) is a severe, sometimes fatal disease caused by one of several species of Orthohantavirus, with Sigmodontine rodents being the most frequent natural reservoir species. The first documented cases of HPS in South America, in 1995, included an outbreak in the central Chaco of Paraguay. In the nearly three decades since then, a considerable body of research aimed at understanding the host and viral distributions, ecology and evolution has been conducted in Paraguay or has been based on data collected in Paraguay. This research has resulted in numerous presentations in scientific meetings, two Master’s theses, one Ph.D. dissertation, three book chapters and 26 peer-reviewed articles published in 18 scientific journals.
Field research has identified at least six distinct species of Orthohantavirus present in Paraguay, has shown at least two of them to be sympatric and hosted by two common rodent species in eastern Paraguay, and has revealed one viral species to be the result of a genetic reassortment, combining one of the three RNA segments of one viral species with another of the segments from a different species. Ten rodent species have been found positive for antibodies to Orthohantavirus, indicating viral infection. Of those ten species, individuals of four have tested positive for viral RNA, indicating active infection, meaning that they are either primary or secondary (spillover) hosts of the virus.
Field research has also produced strong evidence that landscape structure and land use are primary environmental drivers of viral prevalence in South American host populations, in contrast to other regions (e.g., southwestern North America) where precipitation patterns appear to be the primary drivers of prevalence. Field research here has also shown that seropositive individuals of the rodent Akodon montensis exhibit several noteworthy behavioral and life-history modifications which could be postulated as favorable to the capacity of the virus to be transmitted horizontally to other hosts, thereby increasing viral fitness.
Spatial modeling based on field data collected in Paraguay has enabled creation of a risk map combining human population density, rodent distributions, and land cover patterns. Mathematical modeling has taken several directions, incorporating age-based and sexually distinct infection probabilities, the importance of secondary (spillover) species in long-term maintenance of the virus in a native rodent population, and habitat structure and fragmentation, as well as host migration rates among habitat fragments.
This review article documents and highlights the importance of hantavirus research that has been conducted in Paraguay, discusses hantavirus infection and HPS cases in the country, and suggests future research paths for hantavirus research.
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