Ecology and Epidemiology of Arenaviruses and Their Hosts

Arenavirus epidemiology must be understood on three levels: (1) The most fundamental and scientifically interesting concerns the distribution of virus in rodent populations. The dominant characteristic of the known, well-characterized arenaviruses is their ability to establish chronic viremic infections in specific rodent hosts. At the population level, this complex problem depends on the interaction of virus, rodent, and ecological variables that mutually determine the abundance of infected rodents, which may in turn contaminate humans with virus. (2) The variables that bring humans in contact with these rodents and their excreta in such a way as to lead to human infection. This process depends on human ecology and habits, as well as the dynamics of infected rodents. (3) The situations in which infected humans may be responsible for secondary infections of humans.