Sin Nombre Virus Risk Assessment in Yosemite National Park

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SIN NOMBRE VIRUS RISK ASSESMENT IN YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK
Hantaviruses are a genus of virus that are single-stranded, negative-sensed RNA viruses with a tripartite genome, represented by 45 different species across a worldwide distribution (Dearing and Dizney, 2010). They are pathogens primarily hosted by small mammals, in the family Muridae, with rats and mice making up the majority of these hosts. Hantaviruses first came to be known when two major disease events occurring in the twentieth century lead to the discovery of both old and new world hantaviruses (Johnson et al 2010). Old world hantavirus were first discovered during the Korean War (1950-1953) when over 3,000 U.N and Korean soldiers became stricken with hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). New world hantaviruses were first discovered in the four corners region of the Southwest United States during an outbreak of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) in 1993.
Since 2006, 22 new species of hantaviruses have been identified globally in Soricomortpha insectivores and in west African bats which may imply that more species of hantavirus will be discovered amongst a variety of different host species as sampling efforts continue globally (Wen-Ping et al. 2013). Presently 21 hantavirus have been known to cause similar human diseases that have been categorized within HFRS and HPS as the dominant syndromes in the old world and new world respectively (Jonssen et al. 2010). HFRS symptoms in humans may develop within 1 to 2 weeks after exposure, and up to 8 weeks in some cases (CDC 2013). HFRS can cause various hemorrhagic manifestation, circulation disorders, and renal failure and is associated with human mortality rates between 0.1% to 15% (Muranyi et al. 2005).
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Even with these experimental management practices in place, it is highly unlikely that SNV will be eliminated from deer mice populations in Yosemite National Park. However these experimental methods can give us crucial information pertaining to location specific deer mice/SNV transmission dynamics within the park boundaries which then may allow us to create better management strategies in controlling the disease. More research needs to be done in gaining a better understanding of deer mice social community behavior, investigating the link between deer mice SNV prevalence and human HPS outbreaks, and breaking down and understanding the multiple factors that attribute the “trophic cascade” and how precipitation and climate can influence rodent populations (Calisher 2002). It has been shown that SNV disease dynamics and patterns are different in unique locations

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