Antibodies to hantaviruses in two species of sigmodontine rodents (Peromyscus maniculatus and Reithrodontomys sumichrasti) collected in central Mexico are reported. Peromyscus maniculatus, a common species throughout much of Mexico, is the reservoir of Sin Nombre virus (SNV), the etiologic agent of the great majority of cases of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in North America. Although the identity of the virus detected in P. maniculatus in Mexico could not be determined by these serologic results, our findings suggest that SNV may occur throughout the range of P. maniculatus in North America. If true, the failure to identify HPS in Mexico is not due to the absence of pathogenic hantaviruses in Mexico.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. J. Kuenzi, R. J. Douglass, C. W. Bond, C. H. Calisher, and J. N. Mills LONG-TERM DYNAMICS OF SIN NOMBRE VIRAL RNA AND ANTIBODY IN DEER MICE IN MONTANA J. Wildl. Dis., July 1, 2005; 41(3): 473 - 481. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Salazar-Bravo, B. Armien, G. Suzan, A. Armien, L. A. Ruedas, M. Avila, Y. Zaldivar, J. M. Pascale, F. Gracia, and T. L. Yates Serosurvey of Wild Rodents for Hantaviruses in Panama, 2000-2002 J. Wildl. Dis., January 1, 2004; 40(1): 103 - 109. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]