The natural reservoir of arenavirus in Africa is rodents of the family Muridae
, especially Mastomys natalensis, and nonpathogenic arenaviruses have been found in areas surrounding Zambia (2-5).
The prevalence of bartonellae by corresponding taxonomic family of host animal ranged from 38.6% (49/127) in the family Muridae to 43.9% (69/157) in the family Sciuridae.
In this study, Bartonella genogroups D, E, and G were isolated from animals in the family Muridae, and Bartonella genogroup B was isolated from animals in the family Dipodidae.
These viruses are mainly transmitted through contact with the excreta of their natural hosts, rodents of the family Muridae
. The Old World arenavirus Lassa virus causes up to 300,000 cases of Lassa fever annually in endemic foci of 2 geographically disjunct regions of West Africa (1).
In contrast to other members of the Bunyaviridae, hantaviruses are not transmitted by arthropods but are spread by aerosolized excreta of rodents of the family Muridae
, their natural hosts (1-4).
All of them are associated with different rodent hosts of the subfamily Sigmodontinae, family Muridae
, and the distribution of each virus parallels that of the host (2).
All hantaviruses that cause HPS are hosted by the rodent family Muridae
, subfamily Sigmodontinae (New World rats and mice).
Rodents of the family Muridae
are also commonly infected with O.
The common rodents in populated areas of Argentina belong to two groups of the family Muridae
. The most common rodents in natural, as well as disturbed habitats outside urban and peridomestic areas, are numerous species of the Murid subfamily, Sigmodontinae (the New World rats and mice) (6).
With very few exceptions, each virus is associated with a single primary rodent host of the family Muridae. The rodent, in which the vires establishes a chronic infection, sheds infectious virus into the environment in urine, feces, and saliva (3,4); these characteristics are key to the transmission of the virus, both to humans (most frequently by inhalation of infectious aerosols ) and among rodents (frequently by aggressive encounters and biting [6,7]).
Since 1993, when hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) was recognized and its etiologic agent, Sin Nombre virus (SNV), was isolated and associated with the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) (12,13), at least 20 New-World hantaviruses, all associated with the same group of indigenous American rodents (family Muridae, subfamily Sigmodontinae) have been described, and HPS has been diagnosed from Canada to Patagonia.