The seroprevalences of anti-hantavirus IgG antibodies among selected Venezuelan populations

In Venezuela, the isolation of hantaviruses from rodents and the detection, in 1999, of a clinically confirmed human case of hantavirus infection led to increased interest in these viruses. In an attempt to estimate the problem posed by such viruses in Venezuela, ELISA based on purified, recombinant, nucleoprotein were used to check 1380 human serum samples for the presence of IgG antibodies to hantavirus. The ELISA results, as confirmed by indirect immunofluorescence and Western-blot assays, indicated that 23 (1.7%) of the serum samples contained antibodies to hantaviruses. Seroprevalences were similar among all age-groups and for both genders and were no higher among rural populations with a relatively high risk of exposure to rodents than among the overall study population. Although the numbers of samples involved were small, the seroprevalence among the subjects who were residents of Carabobo state was much higher than the overall value (10.3% v. 1.7%; P < 0.01). Human infection with hantavirus appears uncommon but widely distributed in Venezuela.