PREVALENCE AND GEOGRAPHIC GENETIC-VARIATION OF HANTAVIRUSES OF NEW-WORLD HARVEST MICE (REITHRODONTOMYS) - IDENTIFICATION OF A DIVERGENT GENOTYPE FROM A COSTA-RICAN REITHRODONTOMYS MEXICANUS

We recently described a novel hantavirus (HMV-1) of the western harves t mouse Reithrodontomys megalotis. Screening of 181 additional specime ns of Reithrodontomys from the United States and Mexico, including sam ples of R, mexicanus, R. sumichrasti, and R, gracilis of Costa Rica, f or antibodies to hantavirus nucleocapsid protein revealed a widespread enzootic of hantavirus infection. Genetic analyses of 7 S genomes of Reithrodontomys-associated hantaviruses demonstrated that the enzootic of HMV-1 extends from central Mexico into the southwestern United Sta tes. A presumed deer mouse hantavirus was found in an R. megalotis ani mal in Mexico. A highly divergent HMV-1-like virus, tentatively called HMV-2, was identified in a Costa Rican R. mexicanus. These data sugge st a longstanding radiation of hantaviruses among New World harvest mi ce. We identify possible opportunities for genetic exchange among hant aviruses of related rodent hosts. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.