Spatial and temporal patterning of bank vole demography and the epidemiology of the Puumala hantavirus in northeastern France

Epidemiological data from bank voles, Myodes glareolus, naturally infected by the hantavirus Puumala (PUUV) were collected by a capture-mark-recapture protocol from 2000 to 2002 in the French department of Ardennes. Four monitored trapping sites were established in two forests located in two cantons (Flize and Monthermé). We captured 912 bank voles corresponding to 557 different individuals during 8820 trapping nights for an overall trapping success of 10.34%. The average PUUV seroprevalence was 22.4%. Characteristics of the system reported in North European countries are confirmed in France. PUUV seroprevalence and abundance of rodents appeared weakly linked. Adult voles were more frequently antibody-positive, but no difference between sexes was established. Anti-PUUV seropositive voles were captured and high seroprevalence was observed from both forests, without human infection reported in Flize canton during the study. One site among the four exhibited peculiar infection dynamics, where vole weight and infection risk were negatively correlated.