Hantavirus and arenavirus antibody prevalence in rodents and humans in Trentino, Northern Italy

SUMMARY The spatial and temporal distribution of hantavirus and arenavirus antibody-positive wild rodents in Trentino, Italy, was studied using immunofluorescence assays (IFA) in two long-term sites trapped in 2000–2003, and six other sites trapped in 2002. The overall hantavirus seroprevalence in the bank voles, Clethrionomys glareolus (n=229) screened for Puumala virus (PUUV) antibodies was 0 . 4 %, and that for Apodemus flavicollis mice (n=1416) screened for Dobrava virus (DOBV) antibodies was 0 . 2 %. Antibodies against lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) were found in 82 (5 . 6%) of the 1472 tested rodents ; the seroprevalence being 6 . 1% inA. flavicollis (n=1181), 3 . 3% inC. glareolus (n=276), and 14 . 3% inMicrotus arvalis (n=7). Of the serum samples of 488 forestry workers studied by IFA, 12 were LCMV-IgG positive (2 . 5 %) and one DOBV-IgG positive (0 . 2 %), however, the latter could not be confirmed DOBV-specific with a neutralization assay. Our results show a widespread distribution but low prevalence of DOBV in Trentino, and demonstrate that the arenavirus antibodies are a common finding in several other rodent species besides the house mouse.