Voucher specimens for SARS-linked bats.
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Animals↗
Biomedical subjects
Luis A Ruedas
Publications and source records attributed to Luis A Ruedas.
Outbreak of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, Los Santos, Panama, 1999-2000.
An outbreak of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome occurred in the province of Los Santos, Panama, in late 1999 and early 2000. Eleven cases were identified; 9 were confirmed by serology. Three cases were fatal; however, no confirmed case-patient died. Case-neighborhood serologic surveys resulted in an overall hantavirus antibody prevalence of 13% among household and neighborhood members from the outbreak foci. Epidemiologic investigations did not suggest person-to-person transmission of hantavirus infection. By use of Sin Nombre virus antigen, hantavirus antibodies were detected in Oligoryzomys fulvescens and Zygodontomys brevicauda cherriei. This outbreak resulted in the first documented cases of human hantavirus infections in Central America.
Adolescent↗
Serosurvey of wild rodents for hantaviruses in Panama, 2000-2002.
Five hundred fifty-six samples representing 24 species of small mammals (two species of marsupials and 22 rodents) were collected in Panama between February 2000 and July 2002. The samples were examined for antibodies to hantaviruses by means of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay or immunoblot assays. The serologic results indicated that several rodent species might act as hantaviral reservoirs in Panama: Costa Rican pygmy rice rat (Oligoryzomys fulvescens costaricensis), four positive of 72 tested (5.6%); Cherrie's cane rat (Zygodontomys brevicauda cherriei), five of 108 (4.6%); Mexican deer mouse (Peromyscus mexicanus), one of 22 (5%); Mexican harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys mexicanus), one of seven (14%); Chiriquí harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys creper), one of two (50%); and Sumichrast's harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys sumichrasti), three of four (75%). Hantavirus infection in Peromyscus mexicanus and the three species of Reithrodontomys was caused by Rio Segundo hantavirus, a species of virus not previously reported from Panama. At least three hantaviruses, therefore, are known to infect populations of wild rodents in the country. However, given the total number of animals tested, the role of these rodent species in the epidemiology and epizootiology of hantavirus infections remains unclear.
Animals↗
Community ecology of small mammal populations in Panamá following an outbreak of Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.
In late 1999 and early 2000, an outbreak of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) occurred in and around Los Santos, on the Azuero Peninsula of southwestern Panamá. This HPS episode, resulting in 22% case fatality, was linked to the Costa Rican pigmy rice rat, Oligoryzomys fulvescens costaricensis, which harbored a then undescribed hantavirus, Choclo virus. In addition, Cherrie's cane rat, Zygodontomys brevicauda cherriei, was identified as carrying a distinct hantavirus, Calabazo virus with no known pathogenicity to humans. Herein we present the ecological results of the outbreak investigations in the Azuero region. A total of 164 animals were captured, of which 126 were potential small, non-volant mammal hosts of a hantavirus: rodents in the family Muridae. There were significant differences in small mammal community structure between case sites and a negative control site. Differences were manifest in ecological measures of species diversity and in species evenness and heterogeneity measures, as indicated by Pairwise Euclidian distances and Morisita indices of community similarity. Our analyses suggest that human activities (i.e., deforestation for cattle ranching) coupled with environmental factors (i.e., increased precipitation) may have synergistically coalesced for an increased risk of HPS to area residents.
Animal Husbandry↗