Seoul hantavirus in Europe: first demonstration of the virus genome in wild Rattus norvegicus captured in France.
Although rats (Rattus rattus or Rattus norvegicus) worldwide have been found to carry Seoul hantavirus, there are at present only a very few reports of confirmed human Seoul hantavirus infections outside Asia, where the virus, in certain areas, is responsible for approximately 25% of the human hantavirus infections. In Europe, no confirmed human infections outside laboratories have been described, and although rats occasionally have been found to be antibody positive, the viral genome has not been demonstrated in these animals. The present report describes the first confirmed finding of Seoul hantavirus in R. norvegicus captured in Europe.
Research Laboratory for Vector-Borne Diseases, Queen Astrid Military Hospital, Bruynstraat 1, Brussels, Belgium. paul.heyman@mil.be
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Heyman
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Plyusnina
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Berny
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Cochez
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Artois
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Zizi
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Pirnay
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Plyusnin
D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D001483:Base Sequence; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D016678:Genome; D006476:Orthohantavirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D018778:Hantavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D051381:Rats; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D004279:DNA, Viral