Midwest Fish & Wildlife Conference 2019

AUTHORS. Angela N. Fletcher, Timothy C. Carter Ph.D., Heather Bruns Ph.D. – Ball State University

ABSTRACT. Biologists have an increasing interest in hantavirus throughout the Midwestern United States due to its potential negative implications on humans. Understanding the prevalence of this epizootic virus throughout the environment is a priority for the safety of biologists that work with small mammals but also represents concerns for public health in general. Peromyscus sp. are the main vector for the spread of the virus in the Midwest US. Recently high prevalence rates of hantavirus were documented in one location in Indiana.  It is unclear if these prevalence rates are localized or wide spread. We plan to look at the presence of hantavirus in the Muncie area in hope of gaining a better understanding to the extent of hantavirus prevalence on the landscape.  During the month of November 2017, we deployed Sherman traps to catch mice on a single property at Ball State University. Efforts were focused on a 50 acre restored prairie using 60-meter grids established throughout 15 prairie management plots to sample the presence of hantavirus in Peromyscus sp. throughout the prairie.Traps were checked daily and general morphological characteristics were collected on captured individuals. We also collected blood samples from captured individuals to determine the presence of hantavirus within the community. Our trapping efforts yielded 23 Peromyscus sp. throughout the study. Nine blood samples were collected from captured individuals. All nine samples collected were negative for hantavirus. We plan to increase our sampling effort and continue to collect data in the fall of 2018. The results of this research may guide management decisions for future hantavirus surveying.