Prevalence of hantavirus in four species of Neotoma from Arizona and Utah

Sin Nombre virus (SNV), a hantavirus, can cause severe respiratory illness and death in humans. The primary carrier is the deer mouse, Peromyscus mani culatus, but other species of rodents may be infected with the virus. We sc reened four species of woodrats (Neotoma) for hantavirus using both enzyme- linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test s. Woodrats were collected from a variety of habitats in Arizona and Utah. Only Neotoma lepida tested serologically positive in an ELISA assay for han tavirus and also contained SNV RNA. Moreover, across three distinct populat ions of N. lepida, individuals that tested serum positive were restricted t o one population near Jericho, Utah. The prevalence of hantavirus in this p opulation was 27% (4 of 15).