Virginia Tech researchers discovered six new rodent carriers of hantavirus and identified U.S. hotspots, highlighting the virus's adaptability and the impact of climate and ecology on its spread.
Hantavirus recently drew public attention following reports that it was the cause of death for Betsy Arakawa, wife of actor Gene Hackman. Despite the headlines, the virus remains relatively unfamiliar to many, beyond its known association with rodents.
Researchers at Virginia Tech have deepened scientific understanding of this potentially deadly virus by studying its rodent hosts across North America. Using data from the National Science Foundation, the team identified three major hotspots of hantavirus activity in wildlife: Virginia, Colorado, and Texas. They also documented 15 rodent species carrying the virus, six of which had not previously been recognized as hosts.
The findings were published in the journal Ecosphere.
A Virus With Pandemic Potential
"This project is timely because hantavirus is considered an emerging disease of pandemic potential with symptoms that resemble severe COVID-19 infections," said Paanwaris Paansri, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation and co-author of the study.
Hantaviruses are a family of viruses that have been identified in regions all over the globe and can reach mortality rates similar to other diseases of high concern, such as nipah and Ebola. In Asia, hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome is caused by the Hantaan virus, in Europe that syndrome is caused by the Dobrava-Belgrade virus, and in North and South America, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is caused by Sin Nombre virus and Andes virus — all hantaviruses. Sin Nombre virus was first discovered in New Mexico in 1993.
Little is known about the ecology of hantaviruses in wildlife except that the pathogen is spread to humans by inhalation of aerosolized excreta, urine, or saliva from asymptomatic rodent hosts, and it can be fatal in humans.
The Virginia Tech team used data from the National Science Foundation's National Ecological Observatory Network program to gain a better understanding of hantavirus circulation in its sylvatic cycle — the pathogen's life cycle in wildlife — by examining the environmental influences and geographical distribution of the rodent hosts. The program collected and tested 14,004 blood samples from 49 species at 45 field sites across the United States from 2014-19.
New Hosts, New Insights
"In North America, Peromyscus maniculatus, the deer mouse, is the most common carrier but our study also revealed that other rodent species have a higher prevalence of hantavirus, which changes the current paradigm in hantavirus circulation in wildlife," said Paansri, whose mentor Associate Professor Luis E. Escobar, led the study and is an affiliate with the Fralin Life Sciences Institute. "This new information is expected to help us understand where and when hantavirus is most likely to occur, which is crucial for predicting outbreaks and informing public health officials."
The discovery of six new rodent species of hantavirus hosts is significant. Some of these newly discovered hosts inhabit regions where traditional hosts, such as the deer mouse or the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus), are absent, meaning they could be potential reservoirs of the virus in new or overlooked areas.
"This expands our understanding of the basic biology of the virus and shows that the virus is more adaptable than previously believed," Paansri said. "This has direct implications for surveillance strategies and risk assessments and can help explain some cases of hantavirus in humans where the main reservoir is absent or rare."
In addition to expanding the known host species, the researchers were able to gain a better understanding of seasonal trends and effects of seasonal weather shifts. For example, warmer winters and increased precipitation can increase rodent populations and drier conditions can facilitate the generation of contaminated dust containing particulates from rodent excrement and saliva, increasing the risk of transmission to humans.
The Role of Climate Change
"Climate change can cause population increases or distributional shifts of rodents, altering the epidemiology of hantavirus," Paansri said. "These fluctuations can lead to more frequent rodent-human interactions and increase the chance of spillover. We found some evidence that rodent demography and hantavirus prevalence can be predicted months in advance."
The actual number of human cases of hantavirus infections is largely unknown, according to Paansri, because many infections remain silent, meaning the infected individual may not develop any symptoms or the symptoms could mirror other diseases, such as the common cold or influenza.
The researchers plan to further explore the extent to which climatic variations influence hantavirus transmission in wildlife and in humans.
"We believe that many lessons learned from this study can be generalized to other wildlife diseases, considering that their distribution is global," Paansri said.
Reference: "Hantavirus in rodents in the United States: Temporal and spatial trends and report of new hosts" by Francisca Astorga, Abdelghafar Alkishe, Paanwaris Paansri, Gabriel Mantilla and Luis E. Escobar, 16 March 2025, Ecosphere.
DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.70209
News
China makes early progress in using sound waves to stimulate damaged brains
Chinese researchers are testing whether focused ultrasound can help restore consciousness in patients with severe brain injuries, adding to a growing international effort to use sound waves to stimulate deep brain structures without surgery. [...]
Micro-drones fly through the body thanks to ultrasound
At the EPFL, micro-drones have been developed that can be moved without a motor or battery.No motors, no batteries, no electronics on board, just small cavities that convert sound waves into thrust: this is [...]
A Single Enzyme Could Hold the Key to Treating a Devastating Brain Disorder
Blocking an enzyme’s production restored brain growth and healthy behaviors in mice engineered to develop Angelman syndrome, pointing to a possible treatment target. Children with Angelman syndrome begin to show difficulties with thinking and [...]
Scientists Develop a Clever New Way To Kill Cancer Cells From the Inside
Scientists have developed an experimental strategy that exploits a chemical byproduct of cancer cells to produce anticancer drugs directly inside them. Scientists in Japan have developed an experimental method that uses a chemical produced [...]
Our books are available worldwide!
Online Sellers other than Amazon, Routledge, and IOPP Indigo Global Health Care Equivalency in the Age of Nanotechnology, Nanomedicine and Artifcial Intelligence Global Health Care Equivalency In The Age Of Nanotechnology, Nanomedicine And Artificial [...]
After only a short training, people in a coma managed to send targeted signals
Researchers have succeeded in communicating with brain-injured patients who are unconscious. They see enormous potential in this for future treatments. Patients who lie motionless in bed after a severe brain injury and do not [...]
MIT Scientists Reprogram Immune Cells Inside the Body To Destroy Cancer
Natural killer cells reprogrammed inside mice eliminated lymphoma tumors and helped damaged livers heal, though whether this approach could help people with cancer or autoimmune disease remains unknown. To make a cancer treatment from [...]
Melanoma mRNA Vaccine Shows Promise in Preventing Disease Recurrence
Key takeaways: Phase 3 trial finds personalized intismeran plus pembrolizumab may better prevent high-risk melanoma recurrence after surgery The trial enrolled 1,137 patients and builds on phase 2 results showing about half the recurrence [...]
Scientists Discover a Powerful New Weapon Against a Dangerous Gut Infection
The promise of an experimental treatment for C. difficile gut infections lies partly in the bacteria it leaves alive, according to early laboratory and mouse research. Broad-spectrum antibiotics can disrupt the gut’s microbial community, [...]
Your Bones May Hold a Hidden Clue to Blood Cancer Survival
For people with blood cancers called myelodysplastic syndromes, osteoporosis may hold an overlooked clue to survival, a three-year observational study suggests. In blood cancers that develop in the bone marrow, an important clue to [...]
Researchers Discover What Reading for Pleasure May Be Doing to Your Brain
Reading for pleasure may offer surprising benefits for the brain, with research linking the habit to better mental health, stronger cognitive abilities, and a lower risk of dementia. Reading for pleasure may do far [...]
Scientists Discover a Hidden Trigger That Keeps Inflammation Alive
Inflammation persists after proteins detach from immune receptors, revealing a potential target for autoimmune treatments. Since a Nobel Prize-winning discovery in the 1990s identified molecules called Toll-like Receptors as the guardians of the human [...]
A Virus Gives Itself Away the Moment It Attacks
Researchers have found the trigger behind a powerful bacterial defense against viruses. Viruses that prey on bacteria could become an increasingly important tool for treating bacterial infections, particularly as antibiotic resistance makes some infections [...]
Scientists Discover Aspirin May Slash Dementia Risk by 70% – but Only for Certain People
Aspirin was linked to a sharply lower dementia risk in some older adults, and their genes may hold the clue. A Monash University analysis found that older adults with a particular genetic profile had [...]
Inflammation May Awaken Dormant Cancer Cells Years After Treatment
The body’s response to inflammation may disturb cancer cells that have been lying silent for years, giving them an opportunity to grow again. Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have found that gut inflammation [...]
Where do nanoparticles go once they enter the body?
New international best practice guidance, co-written at ANSTO, sets out how to measure where nanoparticles like titanium dioxide end up in the body and how long they remain. The guidance has been shared by [...]
