Primera evidencia serológica de infección por Hantavirus en roedores, en Colombia

objective: determining hantavirus infection prevalence in rodents in the córdoba department, colombia. methods: rodents were captured using sherman live-capture traps (8x9x23 cm; sherman traps, inc., tallahassee, fl) in peridomestic areas of córdoba. hantavirus igg antibodies were detected by elisa using sin nombre virus (snv) recombinant nucleocapsid antigen (cdc, atlanta, georgia, usa). results: 336 rodents were captured in 11 townships in the córdoba department (murinae: 249; sigmodontinae: 68; heteromyidae: 17; echimyidae: 2; 8,5 % overall trap success) during 79 nights of trapping between january 2003 and november 2004. hantavirus antibody seroprevalence was 2,1 % (7 out of 336 captures). prevalence by genus varied between 5,9 % (1 out of 17 heteromys) to 50 % (1 out of 2 proechimys). conclusions: snv-reactive antibody prevalence in rodents in córdoba, colombia, indicated that at least one hantavirus is endemic in rodents in northern colombia and is frequently transmitted to rural residents.