Hanta Virus

[Racoon]

This is some pretty nasty stuff! :eek:

 

Hanta virus is a concern because mice droppings can spread this virus if present...

Well, when clearing out my grandparents place to ready and sell, there were plenty of mice droppings found in some cupboards and drawers :eek2:

 

So, I thought I'd start another thread in Biology :cup:

 

reactions?

 

Washington State Government Factsheet

 

What is hantavirus?

 

Hantaviruses are a group of viruses that are carried by rodents. One of them, Sin Nombre virus, is found in deer mice in North America. Sin Nombre virus is the cause of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) in people.

 

Does hantavirus occur in Washington?

 

Yes. Though they don’t have any symptoms, hantavirus infected deer mice live in rural areas statewide. Consequently, the human illness, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) also occurs in Washington. The Department of Health usually receives between 1 and 5 reports of HPS each year.

 

How are people exposed?

 

Deer mice excrete the virus in their urine, saliva, and droppings. A person may be exposed to hantavirus by breathing contaminated dust after disturbing or cleaning rodent droppings or nests, or by living or working in rodent-infested settings.

 

In North America, there is no evidence that the disease spreads from one person to another.

 

What are the symptoms of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome?

 

HPS begins one to six weeks after inhaling the virus in contaminated dust. The disease begins with 2-6 days of "flu-like" illness including fever, sore muscles, headaches, nausea, vomiting, and fatigue. As the disease gets worse, it causes shortness of breath due to fluid filled lungs and hospital care is then required. It is usually a serious infection and about 1 out of 3 people diagnosed with HPS have died.

 

*notice that the name for one of the viruses is 'Sin Nombre', or without name :teeth:

One of them, Sin Nombre virus, is found in deer mice in North America. Sin Nombre virus is the cause of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) in people.

[maikeru]

There was a hanta virus outbreak many years ago here in the western US, including Utah where I live, because the deer mouse population rose. Something about wet weather or a lack of natural predators...I don't remember quite what it was. But several people got it exactly as the factsheet describes, from contact with deer mouse droppings and urine. It's nasty.

[Mercedes Benzene]

There was a scare quite a few years ago that a researcher in my area may have been infected with Hanta Virus. He was working at USAMRIID when a potential exposure occurred. It turned out to be a false alarm... but is scary all the same.

Hanta Virus is categorized as a Biohazard Level 4 agent (in the US), which is the highest pathalogical risk category associated with infectious diseases.

 

After reading the book "The Hot Zone" in the 5th grade, the risk of dangerous outbreaks hit me kind of close to home (literally: since the majority of the book takes place about 30 minutes from my house:sweat:) yet I quickly became obsessed with microorganisms and wanted to go into this field as a profession.

 

In any case, Hanta Virus is interesting, albeit scary stuff.

[gribbon]

My understanding of this virus is that it belongs to the bunyaviridae family of viruses, and is unique because all the genera within this family (bunyavirus, phlebovirus, nairovirus, tospovirus) is made up of negative-sensed, single-stranded RNA viruses, all these genera include arthropod-borne viruses, but the Hanta virus is a genus of rodent-borne agents.

 

It has affected regions as diverse and far a field as China, Argentina, The Korean peninsula, Chile, Brazil, Russia etc. In the U.S New Mexico Colorado Arizona, California, Texas, and Washington, as well as Montana, Idaho, and Utah. With only 7 cases, Oregon has a notably lower attack rate overall and relative to population, compared to other Western states, but they probably won’t let their guard down.

 

They are unique in that they replicate specifically in the Cytoplasm, and attachment of virions to cellular receptors and latter endocytosis allows this virus to enter cells and nucleocapsids are introduced into the cytoplasm by pH-dependent fusion of the virion with the endosomal membrane. I’m not sure how it transcripts, but I think it needs to use an L-protein, (and then assemble itself using nucleocapsids + glycoproteins embedded in the membranes of the Golgi, but that needs checking).

 

It has been labelled as rare and lethal, and causes two dieseases, one deadly serious, (HCPS) and one not so serious (HFRS). I don't know how often the former is induced, but it would definetely be worth knowing for the WHO.

 

Hantavirus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia