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Responses of small mammals to habitat fragmentation: epidemiological considerations for rodent-borne hantaviruses in the Americas.
Ecohealth. 2014 Dec; 11(4):526-33.E

Abstract

Rodent-borne hantaviruses are a group of zoonotic agents that cause hemorrhagic fever in humans. The transmission of hantaviruses among rodent hosts may be higher with the increase of reservoir host abundance in a given area (density-dependent transmission) and with the decrease of small mammal diversity (dilution effect phenomenon). These population and community parameters may be modified by habitat fragmentation; however, studies that focus on fragmentation and its effect on hantavirus infection risk are scarce. To further understanding of this issue, we assessed some population and community responses of rodents that may increase the risk for hantavirus transmission among wildlife hosts in the Americas. We conducted a meta-analysis of published studies to assess the responses of small mammals to fragmentation of native habitats, relative to patch size. Our analyses included five countries and 14 case studies for abundance of reservoir hosts (8 species) and 15 case studies for species richness. We found that a reduction of patch area due to habitat fragmentation is associated with increased reservoir host abundances and decreased small mammal richness, which is mainly due to the loss of non-host small mammals. According to these results, habitat fragmentation in the Americas should be considered as an epidemiological risk factor for hantavirus transmission to humans. These findings are important to assess potential risk of infection when fragmentation of native habitats occurs.

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Publisher Full Text (DOI)

Authors+Show Affiliations

Rubio AV
Departamento de Etología, Fauna Silvestre y Animales de Laboratorio, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, C.P. 04510, Mexico, Distrito Federal, Mexico, airubio@uc.cl.
Ávila-Flores R
No affiliation info available
Suzán G
No affiliation info available

MeSH

AnimalsAnimals, WildDisease ReservoirsEcosystemOrthohantavirusHumansMammalsNorth AmericaRodentiaSouth AmericaZoonoses

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Meta-Analysis
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Language

eng

PubMed ID

24845575

Citation

Rubio, André V., et al. "Responses of Small Mammals to Habitat Fragmentation: Epidemiological Considerations for Rodent-borne Hantaviruses in the Americas." EcoHealth, vol. 11, no. 4, 2014, pp. 526-33.
Rubio AV, Ávila-Flores R, Suzán G. Responses of small mammals to habitat fragmentation: epidemiological considerations for rodent-borne hantaviruses in the Americas. Ecohealth. 2014;11(4):526-33.
Rubio, A. V., Ávila-Flores, R., & Suzán, G. (2014). Responses of small mammals to habitat fragmentation: epidemiological considerations for rodent-borne hantaviruses in the Americas. EcoHealth, 11(4), 526-33. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-014-0944-9
Rubio AV, Ávila-Flores R, Suzán G. Responses of Small Mammals to Habitat Fragmentation: Epidemiological Considerations for Rodent-borne Hantaviruses in the Americas. Ecohealth. 2014;11(4):526-33. PubMed PMID: 24845575.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - Responses of small mammals to habitat fragmentation: epidemiological considerations for rodent-borne hantaviruses in the Americas. AU - Rubio,André V, AU - Ávila-Flores,Rafael, AU - Suzán,Gerardo, Y1 - 2014/05/21/ PY - 2014/02/16/received PY - 2014/04/06/accepted PY - 2014/04/05/revised PY - 2014/5/22/entrez PY - 2014/5/23/pubmed PY - 2015/11/3/medline SP - 526 EP - 33 JF - EcoHealth JO - Ecohealth VL - 11 IS - 4 N2 - Rodent-borne hantaviruses are a group of zoonotic agents that cause hemorrhagic fever in humans. The transmission of hantaviruses among rodent hosts may be higher with the increase of reservoir host abundance in a given area (density-dependent transmission) and with the decrease of small mammal diversity (dilution effect phenomenon). These population and community parameters may be modified by habitat fragmentation; however, studies that focus on fragmentation and its effect on hantavirus infection risk are scarce. To further understanding of this issue, we assessed some population and community responses of rodents that may increase the risk for hantavirus transmission among wildlife hosts in the Americas. We conducted a meta-analysis of published studies to assess the responses of small mammals to fragmentation of native habitats, relative to patch size. Our analyses included five countries and 14 case studies for abundance of reservoir hosts (8 species) and 15 case studies for species richness. We found that a reduction of patch area due to habitat fragmentation is associated with increased reservoir host abundances and decreased small mammal richness, which is mainly due to the loss of non-host small mammals. According to these results, habitat fragmentation in the Americas should be considered as an epidemiological risk factor for hantavirus transmission to humans. These findings are important to assess potential risk of infection when fragmentation of native habitats occurs. SN - 1612-9210 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/24845575/Responses_of_small_mammals_to_habitat_fragmentation:_epidemiological_considerations_for_rodent_borne_hantaviruses_in_the_Americas_ DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -