The
federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
have been working with Sevilleta (NM) LTER scientists to
help identify the ecological relationships of the Hanatvirus-associated
Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome (HARDS) in the Southwest.
As with other Hantaviruses, HARDS appears to be transmitted
by rodents, specifically the deer mouse.
In
view of the rodent connection with this disease, medical
investigators and public health officials were in need
of ecological information on the deer mouse and other
native rodent species. Biologists with the Sevilleta LTER
and Canyonlands National Park were the only two groups
who had long-term data on rodent populations in the region.
Comparisons of the detailed demographic analyses for 22
rodent species to the region's climatological data indicated
that the rodent population dynamics were positively associated
with the 1992 El Nino and above-average precipitation
during the winter of 1992-93.
Results
of the LTER analyses are being used to develop rodent/virus
sampling strategies and disease prevention plans for human
populations. Up-to-date measurements of rodent populations
at the Sevilleta LTER sites will continue to contribute
insights and direction to the strategies and contingency
plans developed by the regions public health officials
to battle the HARDS epidemic.
Products:
“The Ecology and Evolutionary History of an Emergent Disease:
Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome” is featured on the cover of the
November 2002 issue of BioScience. The publication represents the
work of more than 16 investigators, a network of nine study sites
spanning three states, evidence from two El Niños, and a decade
of research
For
more information:
Robert Parmenter
bparmenter@lternet.edu
505/277-7619 or 9370
