Hantaviruses are carried and transmitted by rodents and can cause two different diseases, including hemorrhagic fever and severe lung disease. The virus is contracted by inhaling aerosolized rodent urine and feces or consuming contaminated food and water. Supportive care is the main treatment, and researchers are working on developing antiviral drugs and controls to minimize contact between rodents and humans.
A hantavirus is a member of a viral genus first identified around the Hatan River in Korea and classified in the family Bunyaviridae. Members of this genus have been linked to two different diseases, and treatment for both is focused on supportive care. These viruses are carried and transmitted by rodents. Attempts to limit the spread of hantavirus focus on controlling rodent populations to prevent viral exposure.
The original virus is responsible for causing a hemorrhagic fever which will eventually involve the kidneys, potentially sending the patient into kidney failure. It was once known as Korean hemorrhagic fever, although “hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome” is the preferred modern term. The virus incubates for several weeks before causing a cascading series of symptoms. Provided with supportive care through the infection, the patient can survive.
In the 1990s, another form of the virus was identified in the Southwest, after a rash of severe lung disease swept through the Native American community, killing young, healthy individuals with no history of medical problems. The cardiopulmonary version of hantavirus causes problems such as pulmonary edema and tachycardia, where the heart beats too rapidly. Patients may require mechanical ventilation as the body fights off the virus in some cases.
People contract the virus by inhaling aerosolized rodent urine and feces or by consuming food and water contaminated with rodent waste. The symptoms of hantavirus are often compared to those of the flu. Patients may develop headaches and fatigue, and may experience nausea and vomiting. Anemia can develop in some patients, and lung involvement can make breathing difficult. Supportive care may include keeping patients warm and providing fluids.
Researchers interested in the hantavirus are working on tasks such as sequencing the viral genome to learn more about where it originated and how it evolved. This information can be used in the development of antiviral drugs to target hantavirus infection. Studying rodent populations in which the virus occurs naturally without causing disease is also a topic of interest, as is the development of appropriate controls to minimize contact between rodents and humans. Both prairie dogs and mice have been linked to this virus and it can exist for long periods of time in the wild as long as it has a reservoir of natural hosts. It can also last up to three days out of the body, making sterilization of environments where the virus has been identified a major concern.
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