Cent Eur J Public Health 2010, 18(2):116-118 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3611

Characterization of a Natural Focus of Puumala Hantavirus Infection in the Czech Republic

Milan Pejčoch1, Jiří Unar2, Bohumír Kříž1,5, Eva Pauchová3, Roman Rose4
1 National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic
2 Department of Botany, Faculty of Sciences, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
3 District Hospital, Prachatice, Czech Republic
4 National Park Šumava, Vimperk, Czech Republic
5 Charles University, 3rd Medical Faculty, Prague, Czech Republic

Hantaviruses are RNA viruses of the Bunyaviridae family, represented in the Czech Republic by three genospecies: Dobrava-Belgrade, Puumala and Tula. They persist in natural foci of infection. In 2004 to 2009, a local outbreak with 18 reported cases of nephropathia epidemica caused by Puumala hantavirus occurred in the Šumava mountains and foothills and was spacially associated with another outbreak in Lower Bavaria, Germany. In the Jelení locality in the Šumava mountains at 880 m above sea level, we identified a natural focus of infection suspected to be the source of hantavirus infection in forest workers. The focus was characterized geobotanically as a montane mixed forest with the predominance of beeches within the association Dentario enneaphylli-Fagetum, alliance Fagion, sub-alliance Eu-Fagenion, in a cold climate region with a podzolic soil. The biocenoses where hantaviruses are circulating typically show higher microclimate humidity. Their characteristization can be helpful in predicting where hantaviruses are likely to circulate.

Keywords: hantavirus, Puumala, biocenosis, Myodes glareolus

Received: July 2, 2009; Revised: November 11, 2009; Accepted: November 11, 2009; Published: June 1, 2010  Show citation

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Pejčoch M, Unar J, Kříž B, Pauchová E, Rose R. Characterization of a Natural Focus of Puumala Hantavirus Infection in the Czech Republic. Cent Eur J Public Health. 2010;18(2):116-118. doi: 10.21101/cejph.a3611. PubMed PMID: 20939264.
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