Abstract

OWEN, Robert D; CUBILLA, Montserrat  and  JONSSON, Colleen B. A review of Hantavirus research and discoveries in Paraguay, 1995 - 2022. Rev. Soc. cient. Parag. [online]. 2023, vol.28, n.2, pp.397-457. ISSN 2617-4731.  https://doi.org/10.32480/rscp.2023.28.2.397.

Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) is a severe, sometimes fatal disease caused by one of several species of Orthohantavirus, with Sigmodontine rodents being the most frequent natural reservoir species. The first documented cases of HPS in South America, in 1995, included an outbreak in the central Chaco of Paraguay. In the nearly three decades since then, a considerable body of research aimed at understanding the host and viral distributions, ecology and evolution has been conducted in Paraguay or has been based on data collected in Paraguay. This research has resulted in numerous presentations in scientific meetings, two master’s theses, one Ph.D. dissertation, three book chapters and 26 peer-reviewed articles published in 18 scientific journals. Field research in Paraguay has produced strong evidence that landscape structure and land use are primary environmental drivers of viral prevalence in South American host populations. Spatial and mathematical models based on field data collected in Paraguay have explored age-based and sexually distinct infection probabilities, the importance of secondary host species, habitat structure and fragmentation, and host migration rates among habitat fragments. This review article documents and highlights the importance of hantavirus research that has been conducted in Paraguay, discusses hantavirus infection and HPS cases in the country, and suggests future research paths for hantavirus research.

Keywords : epidemiology; field research; habitat; host-virus ecology; long-term research; reassortment; sympatry.

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