Investigation of Hantavirus existence and distribution in Apodemus spp., Microtus spp., Rattus spp. ve Talpa davidiana species in some provinces in Mediterranean (Antalya, Mersin, Adana, Osmaniye and Hatay) and Central Anatolia (Konya, Aksaray, Niğde, Karaman) regions of Turkey

Objective: Orthohantaviruses causes hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome which are major public health problems all over the world. Prevention from the infection is important, because of the lack of effective antiviral agents against Orthohantavirus infections. Therefore field works offer important data about the monitoring of the infection in rodent populations, the determination of Orthohantavirus prevalence and the prediction of possible outbreak regions. Possible new Orthohantavirus species could be detected in the Mediterranean and Central Anatolia Regions due to the presence of some glacial period shelters in the Mediterranean Basin, the appearance of different vegetation types and the distribution of some endemic species. Mediterranean and Central Anatolia Regions are not screened in terms of Orthohantavirus infections until now. This study aimed to determine Orthohantavirus prevalence, Orthohantavirus species circulating in rodent populations and carrier rodent species in Mediterranean region and some provinces of Central Anatolia which neighboring with Mediterranean region. Method: Apodemus spp., Microtus spp. and Rattus spp. rodents known as Orthohantavirus carriers were trapped with the field works in Antalya, Mersin, Adana, Osmaniye, Hatay, Konya, Aksaray, Niğde ve Karaman provinces between April 2015 and November 2017. Sampling was done considering the field representation. The serum and tissue samples of trapped rodents were screened for Orthohantavirus infections with serological and molecular methods. Results: 429 rodents were trapped from the target species. Lung tissue samples collected from the trapped rodents were screened by PCR for the presence of Orthohantavirus and no virus was detected. The serum samples of 175 rodents were screened by ELISA and immunoblot for the detection of antibody presence against Orthohantavirus and all of them were seronegative. Conclusion: Despite the long-term and seasonal sampling, the presence of Orthohantavirus was not found in this study. A direct correlation between Orthohantavirus presence and glacial period shelters which is located south of Turkey and its vegetation could not be detected. The presence of geographic barriers between Turkey's north and south and the differences of climate characteristics which affects the viability of the virus in nature could be related with the absence of the Orthohantavirus in Turkey's southern regions.