Effect of habitat degradation on hantavirus infection among introduced and endemic small mammals of Madagascar.

ABSTRACT: Hantaviruses are globally distributed zoonotic pathogens capable of causing fatal disease in humans. Rodents and other small mammals are the typical reservoirs of hantaviruses, though the particular host varies regionally. Addressing the risk of hantavirus spillover from animal reservoirs to humans requires identifying the local mammal reservoirs and the predictors of infection in those animals, such as their population density and habitat characteristics. We screened native and non-native small mammals and bats in northeastern Madagascar for hantavirus infection to investigate the influence of habitat, including effects of human land use on viral prevalence. We trapped 227 bats and 1663 small mammals over 5 successive years in and around Marojejy National Park across a range of habitat ty

SUBMITTER: Dubrulle J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10769451 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature