Sunday, May 11, 2008

Hantaviruses


Hantaviruses belong to the bunyaviridae family of viruses. There are 7 genera within the bunyaviridae family: bunyavirus, phlebovirus, nairovirus, tospovirus,orthobunyavirus, unclassfied bunyavirus and hantavirus. Each is made up of 3 negative-sensed, single-stranded genomic segments, and so are classified as negative sense RNA viruses. All these genera include arthropod-borne viruses, with the exception of hantavirus, which is a genus of rodent-borne agents.
The word hantavirus is derived from the Hantan River, where the Hantaan virus (the etiologic agent of Korean hemorrhagic fever) was first isolated by Dr. Lee Ho-Wang. The disease associated with Hantaan virus is called Korean hemorrhagic fever (a term that is no longer in use) or hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), a term that is accepted by the World Health Organization

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