Mode of infection of Hokkaido virus (Genus hantavirus) among grey red-backed voles, Myodes rufocanus, in Hokkaido, Japan

Hokkaido virus (HOKV) is a member of the genus Hantavirus, in the family Bunyaviridae. To investigate HOKV infection in the host Myodes rufocanus, the grey red-backed vole, 199 animals were captured at Tobetsu (October 2004 and July 2005) and Nakagawa (October 2004) in Hokkaido, Japan, for detection of antibody, antigen, and viral RNA. In the surveys in Tobetsu (2004) and Nakagawa (2004), seropositive animals were detected at a frequency of 6.0% (5/84) and 10.4% (5/48), respectively. No seropositive animals were detected in Tobetsu in 2005. Seroprevalence in males in Tobetsu and Nakagawa in 2004 was 25 % (1/4) and 45.5 % (5111), respectively, which was higher than in females, at 5.0 % (4/80) and 0% (0/37), respectively (P<0.01). These results suggest that male animals play an important role in the maintenance of HOKV in M. rufocanus. Two females were seronegative but viral RNA-positive, indicating that these animals had acute infections before antibody was produced. Another five infected animals in Nakagawa were all male and had high levels of antibodies and viral RNA, suggesting that they had persistent infections. Viral RNA copies in organs of infected animals in Nakagawa were quantified by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Two acutely infected animals had >= 10 times the number of RNA copies in their lungs compared to those of persistently infected animals. In most cases, lungs or spleen had the highest RNA copy number, regardless of infection status.