A seroprevalence study to determine the frequency of hantavirus infection in people exposed to wild and pet fancy rats in England

Abstract

Recent cases of acute kidney injury due to Seoul hantavirus infection from exposure to wild or pet fancy rats suggest this infection is increasing in prevalence in the UK. We conducted a seroprevalence study in England to estimate cumulative exposure in at-risk groups with contact with domesticated and wild rats to assess risk and inform public health advice. From October 2013 to June 2014, 844 individual blood samples were collected. Hantavirus seroprevalence amongst the pet fancy rat owner group was 34.1% (95% CI 23·9-45·7%) compared with 3·3% (95% CI 1·6-6·0) in a baseline control group, 2·4% in those with occupational exposure to pet fancy rats (95% CI 0·6-5·9) and 1·7% with occupational exposure to wild rats (95% CI 0·2-5·9). Variation in seroprevalence across groups with different exposure suggests that occupational exposure to pet and wild rats carries a very low risk, if any. However incidence of hantavirus infection among pet fancy rat owners/breeders, whether asymptomatic, undiagnosed mild viral illness or more severe disease may be very common and public health advice needs to be targeted to this at-risk group.

Genetic analyses of Seoul hantavirus genome recovered from rats (Rattus norvegicus) in the Netherlands unveils diverse routes of spread into Europe

“…Later on, two nonlaboratory human infections have also been reported in Europe: a farmer in UK and a pregnant woman in France . Recently, an outbreak of HFRS caused by SEOV among rat owners, breeders, and distributors of the pet animal market was reported in UK . Most cases were occupational exposure related and confirmed by specific anti‐SEOV IgG detection.…”

“…47,48 Recently, an outbreak of HFRS caused by SEOV among rat owners, breeders, and distributors of the pet animal market was reported in UK. 12,21,49 Most cases were occupational exposure related and confirmed by specific anti-SEOV IgG detection. In addition, acute human SEOV infections in France have been reported by detecting SEOV-specific IgM and viral RNA (from lineages #7 and #9).…”

“…A recent imported human case of SEOV infection has been reported in Germany . HFRS cases in laboratory workers in Belgium, the Netherlands, UK, and France have been recorded, and human SEOV cases have been found in the UK and France …”

“…16 HFRS cases in laboratory workers in Belgium, the Netherlands, UK, and France have been recorded, [17][18][19][20] and human SEOV cases have been found in the UK and France. 13,21 In the Netherlands, circulation of two hantaviruses in wild rodents has been reported; PUUV in bank voles (Myodes glareolus), and Tula virus (TULV) in common voles (Microtus arvalis). 22 In 2013, rats trapped by the regional water authority in Rijn and IJsselland in the Eastern province of Gelderland in the Netherlands were found to be SEOV antibody positive.…”

Viral Disease

“…The seroprevalence of Seoul virus in laboratory rats is low (0%e0.07%) (Liang et al, 2009;McInnes et al, 2011;Pritchett-Corning et al, 2009;Schoondermark-van de Ven et al, 2006). Several reports of Seoul virus infection of pet rats have been reported (Duggan et al, 2017;Fill et al, 2017;Jameson et al, 2013aJameson et al, , 2013bMcElhinney et al, 2016McElhinney et al, , 2017. Seoul virus is found worldwide and its prevalence in wild rat populations is high (12% e58%) (Cueto et al, 2008;Dupinay et al, 2014;Easterbrook et al, 2007b).…”