Geographical Range of Rio Mamoré Virus (Family Bunyaviridae, Genus Hantavirus) in Association with the Small-Eared Pygmy Rice Rat (Oligoryzomys microtis)

Abstract Hantavirus HTN·007 was originally isolated from a small-eared pygmy rice rat (Oligoryzomys microtis) captured in northeastern Peru. The results of analyses of nucleotide and amino acid sequence data in this study indicated that HTN·007 is a strain of Rio Mamore virus (RIOMV) which is enzootic in small-eared pygmy rice rat populations in Bolivia. As such, the results of this study extend our knowledge of the geographical range of RIOMV and support the notion that the small-eared pygmy rice rat is the principal host of RIOMV.