After the death of actor Gene Hackman and his wife, world paid more concern about the new virus, let’s recognize more about it.
Hantavirus, found throughout the world, is spread by contact with rodents or their urine or feces. It does not spread between people. There is no specific treatment or cure, but early medical attention can increase the chance of survival. An infection can rapidly progress and become life-threatening. “It really starts like the flu: body aches, feeling poorly overall,” said Dr. Sonja Bartolome of UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. “Early in the illness, you really may not be able to tell the difference between hantavirus and having the flu.” The virus can cause a severe and sometimes deadly lung infection called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.
The virus can cause a severe and sometimes deadly lung infection called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency began tracking the virus after a 1993 outbreak in the Four Corners region – the area where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet. It was an astute physician with the Indian Health Service who first noticed a pattern of deaths among young patients, said Dr. Michelle Harkins, a pulmonologist with the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center who for years has been studying the disease and helping patients.
Ortho hantavirus is a genus of viruses that includes all hantaviruses (family Hantaviruses) that cause disease in humans. Ortho hantaviruses, hereafter referred to as hantaviruses, are naturally found primarily in rodents. In general, each hantavirus is carried by one rodent species and each rodent that carries a hantavirus carries one hantavirus species. Hantaviruses in their natural reservoirs usually cause an asymptomatic, persistent infection. In humans, however, hantaviruses cause two diseases: hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). HFRS is mainly caused by hantaviruses in Africa, Asia, and Europe, called Old World hantaviruses, and HPS is usually caused by hantaviruses in the Americas, called New World hantaviruses.
Hantaviruses are transmitted mainly through aerosols and droplets that contain rodent excretions, as well as through contaminated food, bites, and scratches. Environmental factors such as rainfall, temperature, and humidity influence transmission. Human-to-human transmission does not occur. HFRS is marked by kidney disease with kidney swelling, excess protein in urine, and blood in urine. The case fatality rate of HFRS varies from less than 1% to 15% depending on the virus. A mild form of HFRS often called nephropathies epidemic is often caused by Puumala virus and Dobrava-Belgrade virus. For HPS, initial symptoms are flu-like, with fever, headache, and muscle pain, followed by sudden respiratory failure. HPS has a higher case fatality rate than HFRS, at 30–60%. For both HFRS and HPS, illness is the result of increased vascular permeability, decreased platelet count, and overreaction of the immune system.
The hantavirus genome consists of three single-stranded negative-sense RNA segments that encode one protein each: an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), a spike glycoprotein precursor, and the N protein. Segments are encased in N proteins to form ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes that each have a copy of RdRp attached. RNP complexes are surrounded by a lipid envelope that has spike proteins emanating from its surface. Replication begins when spikes attach to the surface of cells. After entering the cell, the envelope fuses with endosomes and lysosomes, which empties RNPs into the cytoplasm. RdRp then transcribes the genome to produce messenger RNA (mRNA) for translation by host ribosomes to produce viral proteins and replicates the genome for progeny viruses. Old World hantaviruses assemble in the Golgi apparatus and obtain their envelope from it, before being transported to the cell membrane to leave the cell via exocytosis. New World hantaviruses assemble near the cell membrane and obtain their envelope from it as they leave the cell by budding from its surface.
Hantaviruses were first discovered following the Korean War. During the war, HFRS was a common ailment in soldiers stationed near the Hantan River. In 1978 in South Korea, the first hantavirus was isolated, Hantan virus, and was shown to be responsible for the outbreak during the war. Within a few years, other hantaviruses that cause HFRS were discovered throughout Eurasia. In 1982, the World Health Organization gave HFRS its name, and in 1987, hantaviruses were classified for the first time. They collectively bear the name of Hantan virus and the Hantan River. In 1993, an outbreak of HPS occurred in the Four Corners region in the United States, which led to the discovery of pathogenic New World hantaviruses and the second disease caused by hantaviruses. Since then, hantaviruses have been found not just in rodents but also shrews and bats.
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