Assessment of Occupational Risk for Hantavirus Infection in Arizona and New Mexico

Abstract

Differentiating occupational exposure from other potential domestic or recreational exposure(s) for Sin Nombre virus (SNV) infection is an epidemiologic challenge. Interviews on work-related activities were conducted, and serum specimens were obtained from 494 workers in Arizona and New Mexico. These workers may have been exposed to rodents and rodent excreta at work, but their primary occupation did not require rodent contact (National Park Service [n = 193]; Navajo Agricultural Product Industry [n = 65], utility companies [n = 169] and plumbing and heating contractors [n = 67]. Within each occupational group (farm workers [n = 57], laborers [n = 20], professionals [n = 70], repairers [n = 211], service industry workers [n = 83], and technicians [n = 53], the majority of workers reported working in areas that had rodent droppings (range, 75 to 95%); 70% of laborers and 64% of service industry workers reported handling rodents. More than 60% of workers in each group, except technicians, reported reopening and cleaning or working in closed spaces. Approximately 90% of laborers, repairers, and farm workers reported hand-plowing. Although the risk for occupationally related SNV infection appears to be low, workers frequently performed risk activities associated with hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). All workers were seronegative for SNV by enzyme-linked immunoassay or Western blot testing. These findings, the known occupational exposure of some HPS cases, and the high HPS case-fatality rate (52%) support the need for recommendations to reduce human contact with rodents in the workplace. Increased understanding of hantavirus transmission to humans will help focus future recommendations to minimize human exposures effectively.

Rodent-borne diseases and their risks for public health

“…Humans can acquire HPS through inhalation of aerosolized virus particles, rodent bites, or direct contact with rodent droppings or urine. Beside the general public, several groups are at higher risks of contracting the disease: mammalogists, public health workers, rodent trappers, farmers, and military personnel (Childs et al 1995;Jonsson et al 2008;Zeits et al 1997). HPS is characterized by bilateral interstitial pulmonary infiltrates, respiratory compromise usually requiring the administration of supplemental oxygen and clinical symptoms resembling those of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).…”

Hantavirus Transmission: Potential Role of Ectoparasites

“…The rodent transmission paradigm may be imperfect since (1) high-risk professionals (e.g., mammalogists and pest control operators) are not infected above the level of the general public (Yangihara et al 1984, Forthal et al 1987, Vitek et al 1996b, Zeitz et al 1997, (2) multiple cases of HPS are not common among cohabitants with similar rodent exposure, and (3) there is a seasonal pattern to HPS as well as a clinal pattern in prevalence in rodents (Engelthaler et al 1999). Since the exclusivity of the rodent transmission paradigm has not been fully confirmed (Dearing et al 1998), the potential for heterogenetic transmission remains.…”

Serologic Investigation of Hantavirus Infection in Patients with Previous Thrombocytopenia, and Elevated Urea and Creatinine Levels in an Epidemic Region of Turkey

“…Although some risk factors are known, for example, age, sex, and living in a rural region (4,26,27), evidence is conflicting (28,29). Some studies have shown that seropositivity is significantly higher in men than in woman, and some have reported sex as a risk factor for Hantavirus infection (7,29,31). In one retrospective study, which investigated the clinical signs of 75 patients with Hantavirus infection aged 16-82 years, the infection rate was 2.5 times higher in men than in women (10).…”