Community structure and prevalence of hantavirus infection in rodents: a geographic division of the enzootic area in far eastern Russia.

The results of an extensive rodent trapping effort throughout the southern part of far eastern Russia and hantavirus antigen screening of tissues were used to develop a multifaceted approach for the geographic division of the enzootic territory of hantavirus. Four species of rodents (Apodemus agrarius, Apodemus peninsulae, Microtus fortis, and Clethrionomys rufocanus) comprised 88.5 percent of 10,595 captured rodents and 94.1 percent of 996 antigen-positive animals. Rodent fauna and the prevalence and distribution of hantavirus antigen-positive animals were compared among major biotic communities in the region. The species composition of the rodent communities and the predominant hantavirus reservoir species were used as criteria to define zones with similar enzootic characteristics.