title: Serological evidence of Hantavirus disease in Northern Ireland.
abstract: Since, to our knowledge, no clinically documented cases of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) have been reported in Northern Ireland, a sero-epidemiological study was carried out to assess the degree of Hantavirus immunity in a group of 627 Northern Irish patients presenting with symptoms suggestive of HFRS and 100 healthy controls. IFA screening for IgG Hantavirus specific antibodies was carried out with a panel of up to 9 different Hantaviral antigens. IgM screening was performed using a commercially available mu-capture ELISA based upon two recombinant Hantaviral nucleocapsid antigens. A seropositivity of 2.1% (15/727) was recorded, with an almost exclusive reaction against a rat-derived R22VP30 strain of the Seoul serotype. Sole reliance upon non-rat-derived classic screening antigens Hantaan (HTN 76-118) and Puumala (CG 18-20) would have resulted in the detection of only 2/15 (13.3%) of cases in IgG IFA, and 8/14 (57.1%) of the cases in IgG ELISA. The findings indicate that for the first time in Europe, and more specifically in N. Ireland, non-laboratory outbreaks of HFRS may be caused by wild rats acting as a reservoir for a Seoul-like Hantavirus. Conventional Hantavirus serology using Hantaan and Puumala as screening antigens does not appear sufficient for the detection of such cases of HFRS. Hence, we propose the addition of a rat derived Hantaviral antigen to the antigen screening panel as a means of improving the specificity of the detection methods.
authors.affiliation: Belgian Zoonosis Workgroup, Queen Astrid Military Hospital, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: McKenna
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Clement
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Matthys
authors.forename: P V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Coyle
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McCaughey
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D006476:Orthohantavirus / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006480:Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood; D009115:Muridae; D009660:Northern Ireland / Q000453:epidemiology; D012016:Reference Values; D012703:Serotyping; D014709:Vero Cells
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M