Hantaviruses are pathogens known to cause severe, often deadly, respiratory and hemorrhagic diseases. They can be an under-recognized source of febrile illness in a community. As they are typically spread by rodents rather than between humans, surveying populations of those species can provide insight into the potential implications of hantavirus outbreaks in the local communities. This study will be one of the first to investigate the prevalence and diversity of hantaviruses in the Caribbean, as well as their impact on human health. By testing rodents and bats (another species known to harbor the virus) in Grenada, co-Principal Investigators Desiree LaBeaud, MD, MS, and Brian Dawes, MD, PhD, hope to identify circulating hantavirus species. They’ll then assess the risk of each strain’s exposure to humans.

“We hope that in further understanding the species and incidence of hantavirus infection in Grenada we can better inform future surveillance and public health measures,” said Dr. Dawes.

Principal Investigators:

Desiree LaBeaud, MD, MS, Professor, Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases

Brian Erik Dawes, MD, PhD, Infectious Disease Fellow, Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine

Research Team:

Sonia Cheetham, DVM, PhD, Professor of Pathobiology, St. George’s University School of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Pathobiology, Grenada; Julia Salzman, PhD, Associate Professor, Stanford University, Departments of Biomedical Data Science and of Biochemistry; Calum MacPherson, PhD, Director of WINDREF, St. George’s University, Grenada

Funders:

Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health, Stanford School of Medicine Dean’s Office