Korean Hemorrhagic Fever.
Abstract
Korean hemorrhagic fever (KHF) is a disease transmitted to man by field nice. Although predominantly associated with rural areas, it is now being recognized as an urban problem in some countries and a particular hazard to laboratory stuff using rodents for biomedical research. Urban rats captured in Seoul and four nearby Korean cities were found to have immunofluorescent antibodies reactive with Hantaan virus, the etilogic agent of KHF. Antibodies were detected in 13% of sera from 477 Rattus norvegicus and 11% of 47 Rattus rattus. Hantaan viral antigen was found in pulmonary tissues of 42 animals and Hantaan virus strains were recovered from 23 rats, all but two of which were R. norvegicus. Wistar rats were qualitatively much more sensitive than Apodemus agrarius rodents for isolation of virus strains from wild rat tissues. Wistar rats inoculated with one of these strains had virus in lung and spleen for at least 75 days. These results document the existence of an urban cycle for Hantaan virus and suggest that Rattus-borne Hantaan virus may be widely distributed in urban centers of Asia and elsewhere.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1982
- Accession Number
- ADA143696
Entities
People
- Ho Wai Howard Lee
Organizations
- Korea University