MICROBIOLOGY

• Enveloped, segmented, negative-sense RNA virus. A large number of species (23 to date) with more discovered regularly.
• Member of Bunyaviridae. Unlike other arthropod-borne viruses in this family, hantaviruses are rodent-borne viruses associated with specific reservoirs.
• In the U.S., geographic locales differ:
  
  • Southeast: deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus), cotton (Sigmodon hispidus) and rice (Oryzomys palustris) rats
  • Northeast: the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) has been associated.
• Transmission to humans through inhalation of aerosolized saliva, urine or feces of reservoir host.
• Hantavirus New World: known to cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS)
  • Examples: found in the Americas unless otherwise stated.
    • Andes virus (ANDV)
    • Sin Nombre virus (SNV)
    • Choclo virus (CHOV), Central America
  • Carried by the New World rats and mice, family Muridae, and subfamily Sigmodontinae, these rodents are not found in urban sites.
    • Deer mouse
    • Cotton rat
    • Rice rat
    • White-footed mouse
• Hantaan virus, Old World: may cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), from an infected rodent or rodent excretions exposure.
  • Known rodent carriers:
    • Striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius, Saaremaa and Hantaan virus)
    • Brown or Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus, Seoul virus)
    • Bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus, Puumala virus)
    • Yellow-necked field mouse (Apodemus flavicollis, Dobrava virus)
  • Viruses:
    • Puumala virus, a hantavirus carried in bank voles, may cause Nephropathia epidemica in humans, primarily in Europe, and western Russia.
    • Dobrava-Belgrade virus (DOBV) causes a more severe HFRS, again in Europe.
    • Hantaan virus: prototype HFRS, predominantly eastern Asia
    • Saaremaa virus: Scandinavia, central Europe
    • Seoul virus: HFRS worldwide, most commonly in Asia, though worldwide with rare cases in North America.