Two Decades of Wildlife Pathogen Surveillance: Case Study of Choclo orthohantavirus and Its Wild Reservoir Oligoryzomys costaricensis.

ABSTRACT: The Costa Rican pygmy rice rat (Oligoryzomys costaricensis) is the primary reservoir of Choclo orthohantavirus (CHOV), the causal agent of hantavirus disease, pulmonary syndrome, and fever in humans in Panama. Since the emergence of CHOV in early 2000, we have systematically sampled and archived rodents from >150 sites across Panama to establish a baseline understanding of the host and virus, producing a permanent archive of holistic specimens that we are now probing in greater detail. We summarize these collections and explore preliminary habitat/virus associations to guide future wildlife surveillance and public health efforts related to CHOV and other zoonotic pathogens. Host sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene form a single monophyletic clade in Panama

SUBMITTER: Gonzalez P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10303383 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature