Serologic evidence of hantavirus infection in sigmodontine rodents in Mexico

Antibodies to hantaviruses in two species of sigmodontine rodents (Peromysc us maniculatus and Reithrodontomys symichrasti) collected in central Mexico are reported. Per omyscus maniculatus, a common species throughout much of Mexico, is the reservoir of Sin Nombre virus (SNV), the etiologic agent of the great majority of cases of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in Nort h America. Although the identity of the virus detected in P: maniculatus in Mexico could not be determined by these serologic results, our findings su ggest that SNV may occur throughout the range of P. maniculatus in North Am erica. If true, the failure to identify HPS in Mexico is not due to the abs ence of pathogenic hantaviruses in Mexico.