The Ecology and Phylogeny of Hosts Drive the Enzootic Infection Cycles of Hantaviruses
1
College of Agriculture and Natural Resources-Department of Environmental Sciences and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 1433, USA
2
United States Department of Agriculture-Agriculture Research Service, Invasive Insect Biocontrol and Behavior Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
3
Department of Biology, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX 78666, USA
4
Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México City 04510, México
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Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad C3, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México City 04510, México
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UMR MIVEGEC, Maladies Infectieuses et Vecteurs: Ecologie, Génétique, Evolution et Contrôle, UMR 5290, CNRIS-IRD-Université de Montpellier, Centre de Recherche IRD, Montpellier Cedex 5 34192, France
7
Population Biology, Ecology, and Evolution Program, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Viruses 2019, 11(7), 671; https://doi.org/10.3390/v11070671
Received: 4 June 2019 / Revised: 17 July 2019 / Accepted: 19 July 2019 / Published: 23 July 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hantaviruses)
Hantaviruses (Family: Hantaviridae; genus: Orthohantavirus) and their associated human diseases occur globally and differ according to their geographic distribution. The structure of small mammal assemblages and phylogenetic relatedness among host species are suggested as strong drivers for the maintenance and spread of hantavirus infections in small mammals. We developed predictive models for hantavirus infection prevalence in rodent assemblages using defined ecological correlates from our current knowledge of hantavirus-host distributions to provide predictive models at the global and continental scale. We utilized data from published research between 1971–2014 and determined the biological and ecological characteristics of small mammal assemblages to predict the prevalence of hantavirus infections. These models are useful in predicting hantavirus disease outbreaks based on environmental and biological information obtained through the surveillance of rodents.
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Keywords:
hantavirus; zoonosis; virus ecology; rodents; shrews; phylogenetic modeling
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MDPI and ACS Style
Milholland, M.T.; Castro-Arellano, I.; Garcia-Peña, G.E.; Mills, J.N. The Ecology and Phylogeny of Hosts Drive the Enzootic Infection Cycles of Hantaviruses. Viruses 2019, 11, 671.
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