The hantaviral load in tissues of naturally infected rodents

Hantaviruses cause a lifelong and asymptomatic infection in naturally infected hosts as well as in experimentally infected rodents. Understanding the ecology and pathogenesis of hantaviruses requires an interdisciplinary research approach, which links laboratory experiments with results gained from field studies. Although several studies report hantavirus persistence and tissue infection patterns for experimentally infected rodents, field data is very limited. For this reason, the aim of our study was to investigate Puumala, Dobrava and Saaremaa virus RNA loads and tissue infection patterns in their natural reservoirs. Hantavirus RNA was demonstrated in all tested internal organs and blood samples of 14 naturally infected rodent hosts. However, the concentration of a specific virus differs depending on the virus, the host and the organ tested. Above all, the Dobrava virus showed a considerably higher viral load in all internal organs and blood samples of infected Apodemus flavicollis hosts. Results obtained in the study support the thesis that virus RNA load reaches its peak in the first month after infection, presumably after the virus has spread throughout all internal organs. This also implies that recently infected rodents are more important for transmission of the virus in the community.