Sex and habitat drive hantavirus prevalence in marsh rice rat populations impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Ecosphere

Colleen B. Jonsson¹  Sabrina S. Taylor²  Anna A. Pérez‐Umphrey²  Andrea Bonisoli‐Alquati²  Allison M. Snider²  Philip C. Stouffer² 

[1] Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Biochemistry College of Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, University of Tennessee Memphis Tennessee USA;School of Renewable Natural Resources Louisiana State University and AgCenter Baton Rouge Louisiana USA;

关键词: Bayou virus;    coastal saltmarsh;    Deepwater Horizon oil spill;    demographics;    hantavirus;    Louisiana;   

DOI  :  10.1002/ecs2.3929

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract Bayou orthohantavirus (BAYV) is one of several hantaviruses in the United States that cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in humans. Its host reservoir, the marsh rice rat (Oryzomys palustris), inhabits coastal saltmarshes of Louisiana, a region extensively impacted by anthropogenic disturbances, such as the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill. The oil spill presents an opportunity to investigate how a large‐scale ecological disturbance can influence the hantavirus host–pathogen dynamic by examining BAYV presence in its reservoir host species in areas with different oiling histories. Here, we: (1) quantify BAYV prevalence in the rice rat in coastal saltmarshes of Louisiana; (2) assess whether prevalence is driven by rice rat demographics, seasonality, or association with habitat characteristics; and (3) determine whether these factors differ by marsh oiling history. We collected mark–recapture data and blood and tissue samples over 5 years (2013–2017) at oiled, unoiled, and reference sites. Testing of the samples for BAYV revealed an antibody and RNA prevalence of 13.7%. Logistic regression analysis found that prevalence varied seasonally and inter‐annually, and in July of 2016 reached 30.8%. Sex (male) and increasing cover of Sporobolus alterniflorus and open water compared to Juncus roemerianus and bare ground were the strongest predictors of hantavirus prevalence. Abundance estimates derived from Huggins closed‐capture models were greatest at oiled sites, but oiling treatment had no residual influence on BAYV prevalence, and abundance and prevalence were not correlated. This study supports the hypothesis that habitat is a main driver of hantavirus prevalence in the host and implies that continued and future disturbances in the region will likely impact the rice rat–BAYV dynamic by altering plant communities and landscape structure.

【 授权许可】

Unknown