Page 114 - ICGES Libro de Resúmenes MAC

Afiches Enfermedades Emergentes y Zoonóticas de Panamá

A­21 SPATIAL­TEMPORAL DISTRIBUTION OF
HANTAVIRUS RODENT­BORNE INFECTION BY
OLIGORYZOMYS FULVESCENS IN THE AGUA BUENA
REGION – PANAMA

B Armién , PL Ortiz , P Gonzalez , A Cumbrera , A Rivero , M Avila , AG
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1
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1
A­21 Armién , F Koster , G Glass 6
5
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1 Gorgas Memorial Institute for Health Studies, Climate Center, Meteorology
2
Institute, Ministry of Health University of Minnesota, Lovelace Respiratory
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Research Institute, The Emerging Pathogens Institute and Department of
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Geography
In Panama, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) is due to infection with the
Choclo virus, which is transmitted by the rice rat (Oligoryzomys fulvescens).
Hantavirus infection is endemic in rural, Central­West Panama, an area
characterized by a very dynamic combination of subsistence and industrial
agriculture. This region contains one of the highest hantavirus antibody
prevalence (16­62%) in humans on the continent, but with low mortality (17%) in
the affected population. People become infected in and around the household
area. Evidence points to the increase in and dynamic nature of agricultural
activity in this region as the primary causes of increased hantavirus infection in
humans in Panama. This study was conducted on a high spatial­temporal
resolution that better captures how rapidly the abundances of reservoir
populations shift ­­altering this aspect of zoonotic spillover of pathogens.
Practically, the results demonstrate an important challenge in monitoring or
predicting zoonotic disease outbreaks at the level of reservoir populations. These
populations are subject to fluctuations over time (both within and among years).
The populations themselves are geographically restricted, even within their
broader range. Suitable habitats for rodents may change but are poorly
understood. Our results are valuable to understand hantavirus dynamics in
Panama and the many other countries from North to South America in which
hantaviruses are endemic in host populations.

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