Investigation of hantavirus in Western regions of Turkey: Analysis of hantavirus antibody prevalence in rodents in Thrace region of Turkey

The rodents are a major reservoir of hantavirus. Hantavirus mainly infects human via inhalation of particles infected by rodents? secretions. Determination of its prevalence in rodent populations is vital to get information about hantavirus related cases and to clarify the state of risk. In this study we optimized a commercial ELISA and immunoblot antigens used for the detection of hantavirus specific antibodies in rodent sera which collected from the rodents in Kırklareli Igneada region. We tested different dilutions of serum and conjugate for optimization. To determine the cut-off value for optimized ELISA, 16 negative rodent sera from different species were used which collected from three distinct areas. Hantavirus seropositivity rates among the samples were found as 26.2% with ELISA and 20.7% with immunoblotting. 94% of the samples were DOBV positive and 6% were PUUV positive. As a result of the statistical analysis, the sensitivity and specificity of the test were found as 100% and 95%, respectively. We constituted a procedure that gives reliable results to be used in serological screening of rodent samples. It?s a fact that the presence of dependable and optimized serological procedures targeting various rodent types have a major importance to accomplish the mission when an active screening in a fieldwork is going on. By doing similar research activities in different regions of Turkey, it will be possible to create risk maps and to take preventive measures. Moreover these researches are important with regards to determining all hantavirus types and the rodent species known as their carriers in Turkey.