An Outbreak of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome in Western Paraguay
Open accessAbstract
During an investigation of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in Paraguay in 1995, sera from persons with HPS-like illness, houshold contacts of confirmed HPS case-patients, and a sample of the area residents were analyzed by ELISA for antibodies to Sin Nombre virus (SNV). Rodent serosurveys and analysis of precipitation records were also conducted. Twenty-three of 24 available probable cases were SNV antibody-positive, 17 of whom were ill between July 1995 and January 1996. Four (14.8%) of 27 case-contacts and 44 (12.8%) of 345 community residents were also seropositive. Calomys laucha (vesper mouse) was the most common rodent species captured and the most frequently SNV-seropositive. Rainfall in May 1995 was 10-fold greater than that seen in May over the preceding 11 years. This 17 case-cluster represents the largest documented outbreak since HPS was first recognized in 1993. Calomys laucha is the likely primary rodent reservoir for a SNV-like hantavirus in western Paraguay. Fluctuations in monthly precipitation rates may have contributed to increased risk for HPS in this region.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Evidence from comparative studies does not support human-to-human transmission of hantavirus infection, with the exception of 1 prospective cohort study in Chile with serious risk of bias and no unexposed comparison group.
“Evidence from comparative studies (the strongest level of evidence available) does not support human-to-human transmission of hantavirus infection [12, 15, 27, 34, 36, 38], with the exception of 1 prospective cohort study in Chile with serious RoB and no unexposed comparison group [29].”
From Evidence for Human-to-Human Transmission of Hantavirus: A Systematic Review (2022) · cites this paper as [38]
In Williams 1997, 6 of 78 (7.7%) tested rodents had IgG antibodies to SNV antigen.
“Six of the 78 (7.7%) tested rodents had IgG antibodies to SNV antigen.”
From Evidence for Human-to-Human Transmission of Hantavirus: A Systematic Review (2022) · cites this paper as [38]
In Williams 1997, all 4 SNV antibody-positive household contacts were linked to case #1, which had evidence of rodent exposure at home.
“All 4 of the SNV antibody-positive household contacts were linked to case #1, which had evidence of rodent exposure at home.”
From Evidence for Human-to-Human Transmission of Hantavirus: A Systematic Review (2022) · cites this paper as [38]
In Williams 1997, there was no evidence for human-to-human transmission of hantavirus.
“No evidence for human-to-human transmission.”
From Evidence for Human-to-Human Transmission of Hantavirus: A Systematic Review (2022) · cites this paper as [38]
In Williams 1997, 44 of 345 (12.8%) area residents in the convenience sample and 4/27 (14.8%) household contacts had IgG antibodies to SNV antigen.
“Forty-four of 345 (12.8%) area residents included in the convenience sample and 4/27 (14.8%) household contacts had IgG antibodies to SNV antigen.”
From Evidence for Human-to-Human Transmission of Hantavirus: A Systematic Review (2022) · cites this paper as [38]
Cited by
Sorted by citations
An Outbreak of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, Chile, 1997
Toro, J., Vega, J. D., Khan, A. S., Mills, J. N., Padula, P., Terry, W., Yadón, Z., Valderrama, R., Ellis, B. A., Pavletic, C., et al. (1998) · Emerging Infectious Diseases · doi:10.3201/eid0404.980425 · Cited by 234 · see citing works
Self-citationClimate Change, Drought and Human Health in Canada
Yusa, A., Berry, P., J.Cheng, J., Ogden, N., Bonsal, B., Stewart, R., & Waldick, R. (2015) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph120708359 · Cited by 174 · see citing works
Outbreak of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, Los Santos, Panama, 1999–2000
Bayard, V., Kitsutani, P. T., Barria, E. O., Ruedas, L. A., Tinnin, D. S., Muñoz, C., de Mosca, I. B., Guerrero, G., Kant, R., Garcia, A., et al. (2004) · Emerging Infectious Diseases · doi:10.3201/eid1009.040143 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Self-citationEvidence for Human-to-Human Transmission of Hantavirus: A Systematic Review
Toledo, J., Haby, M. M., Reveiz, L., Sosa Leon, L., Angerami, R., & Aldighieri, S. (2022) · The Journal of Infectious Diseases · doi:10.1093/infdis/jiab461 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
“The RoB in included studies is a particular concern when trying to determine whether human-to-human transmission of hantavirus is the best explanation for infection in other human contacts.”
BackgroundInfluential
- Authors
- Williams, R. J., Bryan, R. T., Mills, J. N., Palma, R. E., Vera, I., De Velasquez, F., Baez, E., Schmidt, W. E., Figueroa, R. E., Peters, C. J., Zaki, S. R., Khan, A. S., & Ksiazek, T. G.
- Affiliations
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US)
- Venue
- The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
- Published
- 1997-09
- Volume
- 57
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 274-282
- ISSN
- 0002-9637 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2411234494
- Cited by
- 139
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 4 · 2019: 2 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 6.04
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- cc-by-nc-nd
- Locations
- American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Universidad de Chile (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Viral Infections and Vectors
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Zoonotic diseases and public health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Virology and Viral Diseases
- Keywords
- hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, Sin Nombre virus, outbreak, Calomys laucha, rodent reservoirs, hantavirus seroprevalence, household contacts, rainfall, precipitation, hantavirus epidemiology
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Animals, Antibodies, Viral, Disease Outbreaks, Disease Reservoirs, Female, Orthohantavirus, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Paraguay, Rain, Rodentia, Cluster Analysis, Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
