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Hantavirus Infection among Wild Small Mammals in Vellore, South India
Author(s) -
Chandy S.,
Ulrich R. G.,
Schlegel M.,
Petraityte R.,
Sasnauskas K.,
Prakash D. J.,
Balraj V.,
Abraham P.,
Sridharan G.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
zoonoses and public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.87
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1863-2378
pISSN - 1863-1959
DOI - 10.1111/j.1863-2378.2012.01532.x
Subject(s) - hantavirus , bandicoot , hantaan virus , biology , rodent , virology , shrew , antibody , serology , hantavirus infection , antigen , immunofluorescence , virus , immunology , marsupial , zoology , ecology
Summary Wild indigenous small mammals including 83 rodents (bandicoot and black rats, and house mice) and a shrew captured from multiple sites in Vellore, south India, were tested for serological and molecular evidence of hantavirus infection. Indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) using Hantaan virus (HTNV) antigen indicated hantavirus‐reactive antibodies in 16 (19.3%) of 83 rodents (bandicoot and black rats). Western blot (WB) using Thailand virus (THAIV) antigen confirmed hantavirus‐reactive antibodies in nine of the 16 HTNV IFA‐positive rodents. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) of lung and kidney tissue of captured mammals resulted in the detection of partial S segment sequence in a bandicoot rat. This study complements our earlier reports on hantavirus epidemiology in south India and documents first laboratory evidence for rodent‐associated hantaviruses in south India.