Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Jun;92(6):1163-7.
doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.14-0702. Epub 2015 Apr 13.

Serological investigation of heartland virus (Bunyaviridae: Phlebovirus) exposure in wild and domestic animals adjacent to human case sites in Missouri 2012-2013

Angela M Bosco-Lauth  1 , Nicholas A Panella  1 , J Jeffrey Root  1 , Tom Gidlewski  1 , R Ryan Lash  1 , Jessica R Harmon  1 , Kristen L Burkhalter  1 , Marvin S Godsey  1 , Harry M Savage  1 , William L Nicholson  1 , Nicholas Komar  1 , Aaron C Brault  2
Affiliations

Serological investigation of heartland virus (Bunyaviridae: Phlebovirus) exposure in wild and domestic animals adjacent to human case sites in Missouri 2012-2013

Angela M Bosco-Lauth et al. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2015 Jun.

Abstract

Heartland virus (HRTV; Bunyaviridae: Phlebovirus) has recently emerged as a causative agent of human disease characterized by thrombocytopenia and leukopenia in the United States. The lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum L.) has been implicated as a vector. To identify candidate vertebrate amplification hosts associated with enzootic maintenance of the virus, sera and ticks were sampled from 160 mammals (8 species) and 139 birds (26 species) captured near 2 human case residences in Andrew and Nodaway Counties in northwest Missouri. HRTV-specific neutralizing antibodies were identified in northern raccoons (42.6%), horses (17.4%), white-tailed deer (14.3%), dogs (7.7%), and Virginia opossums (3.8%), but not in birds. Virus isolation attempts from sera and ticks failed to detect HRTV. The high antibody prevalence coupled with local abundance of white-tailed deer and raccoons identifies these species as candidate amplification hosts.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Map of approximate trapping and sample collection locations for birds, domestic mammals, and wild mammals.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. McMullan LK, Folk SM, Kelly AJ, MacNeil A, Goldsmith CS, Metcalfe MG, Batten BC, Albarino CG, Zaki SR, Rollin PE, Nicholson WL, Nichol ST. A new phlebovirus associated with severe febrile illness in Missouri. N Engl J Med. 2012;367:834–841. - PubMed
    1. Muehlenbachs A, Fata CR, Lambert AJ, Paddock CD, Velez JO, Blau DM, Staples JE, Karlekar MB, Bhatnagar J, Nasci RS, Zaki SR. Heartland virus-associated death in Tennessee. Clin Infect Dis. 2014;59:845–850. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pastula DM, Turabelidze G, Yates KF, Jones TF, Lambert AJ, Panella AJ, Kosoy OI, Velez JO, Fisher M, Staples E. Notes from the field: Heartland virus disease—United States, 2012–2013. MMWR. 2014;63:270–271. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kokernot RH, Calisher CH, Stannard LJ, Hayes J. Arbovirus studies in the Ohio-Mississippi Basin, 1964–1967. VII. Lone Star virus, a hitherto unknown agent isolated from the tick Amblyomma americanum (Linn) Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1969;18:789–795. - PubMed
    1. Yunker CE, Clifford CM, Thomas LA, Keirans JE, Casals J, George JE, Parker JC. Sunday Canyon virus, a new ungrouped agent from the tick Argas (A.) cooleyi in Texas. Acta Virol. 1977;21:36–44. - PubMed

Publication types