Original scientific paper
The fat dormouse (Myoxus glis) as a natural host of medicaly important microorganisms
Katarina Prosenc
; Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical Faculty of Ljubljana, Zaloška 4, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Tatjana Avšič-Županc
; Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical Faculty of Ljubljana, Zaloška 4, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Tomi Trilar
; Slovene Museum of Natural History, Prešernova 20, PO Box 290, 1001 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Miroslav Petrovec
; Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical Faculty of Ljubljana, Zaloška 4, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Mario Poljak
; Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical Faculty of Ljubljana, Zaloška 4, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Abstract
The fat dormouse (Myoxus glis) was examined as a potential host of hantaviruses and rickettsiae. 98 animals were collected from three different regions in Slovenia (Godovic, Metlika, Sneznik). Serological methods were used for, the detection of specific viral and/or rickesttsial antibodies in animal sera samples. With the PCR method and restriction enzyme digestion, viral and rickettsial genomes were examined. Myoxus glis was confirmed as a host of Hantaan virus. The prevalence of hantaviral infection among the population of Myoxus glis was 13.3 %. It was established that animal age plays a role in the probability of infection with hantaviruses, but not sex. Rickettsial infection was not confirmed in Myoxus glis with any of the methods used.
Keywords
host; Myoxus glis; zoonoses; natural cycle; hantaviruses; rickettsiae; Slovenia
Hrčak ID:
232298
URI
Publication date:
30.6.1997.
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