• The Journal of Korean Society of Virology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.23-31
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• 1999

Hantavirus is a genus of the Bunyaviridae family causing two serious diseases, hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). Puumala virus is a member of hantavirus originally found in Europe, and its natural reservoir is Clethrionomys glareolus. It is also associated with the human disease nephropathia epidemica, a milder form of HFRS. To identify the hantaviruses in bats, bats were collected from Jeong-Sun, Won-Joo, Chung-Ju and Hwa-Cheon area in Korea, and nested RT-PCR was performed with serotype specific primer from M segment. Interestingly, Puumala virus was detected in bats (Rhinolophus ferrum-equinum) only from Won-Joo. The 327 bp nested RT-PCR product, was sequenced. The sequence database search indicates that the sequence is homologous to the published sequence of Puumala viruses. The sequence similarities were ranged from 71% to 97%. The highest sequence similarity was 97% with Puumala virus Vranicam strain, and the lowest was 71% with Puumala virus K27 isolate. Puumala virus Vranicam strain was isolated from a bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus) in Bosnia-Hercegovina. Puumala virus K27 was isolated from human in Russia. This analysis confirms that bats (Rhinolophus ferrum-equinum) in Korea are natural reservoir of Puumala virus.

• The Journal of Korean Society of Virology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.147-155
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• 1998

Hantavirus is a genus of the Bunyaviridae family consisting following serotype groups: Hantaan, Seoul, Puumala, Prospect Hill, Thailand, Belgrade, Thotta palayam, Sin Nombre. Most of Hantavirus group have been associated with many clinically similar disease known collectively as hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). Hantaan virus is the prototype of the genus hantavirus, originally isolated from Apodemus agrarius. Bat was found as a natural host for Hantaan virus in Lee's lab for the first time. Then, Hantaan-like virus was isolated Hantaan-like virus from bat. To identify hantaviruses that are present in Korea among bats, bats were collected from Jeong-Sun, Won-Joo, Chung-Ju and Hwa-Cheon area, RNA was isolated from lung and serum. RT-PCR was performed with a universal primer from M segment. Nested RT-PCR was carried out to differentiate Hantaan, Seoul and Puumala virus using serotype specific primers. As we expected, Hantaan viruses were detected in bats and Seoul virus was not detected. Interestingly, Puumala viruses were also detected in bats from Won-Ju, but not in other areas. Puumala virus is originally isolated from Clethrinomys glareolus, and cause light HFRS. Recently, Paradoxomis webbiana, a wild bird turn out to be a reservoir for Puumala virus in Korea. These data indicate that bat is a new natural reservoir of Puumala virus.

• The Journal of Korean Society of Virology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.39-47
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• 1997

A large number of viruses belonging to Genus Hantavirus in Family Bunyaviridae are etiologic agents for hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), or hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). Hantaan (HTN), Seoul (SED), Belgrade (BEL), Puumala (PUU) serotype viruses are well known causative agents for HFRS in Eurasian continent. Among those viruses Hantaan and Seoul serotypes are well known to cause HFRS in Korea, but there are some sporadic incidence by other than Hantaan or Seoul viruses. Recently we have developed the combined Hantaan-Puumala virus vaccine to prevent world-wide occuring HFRS. This combined vaccine is formalin inactivated, suckling mouse and suckling hamster brain extracts for Hantaan and Puumala viruses, respectively. Protein contents of this purified candidate vaccine is $27\;{\mu}g/ml$, which contains 1,024 ELISA antigen units to each virus, but content of myelin basic protein which is causing experimental allergic encephalomyelitis is less than 0.1 ng/ml. Thirty hamsters were given twice at one month interval intra-muscularly and bled on 30 days after each vaccination from retro-orbital sinus vein. Antibody titers were tested against 5 major serotype viruses, Hantaan, Seoul, Belgrade, Puumala and Sin Nombre viruses by IFA and PRNT. The mean IF antibody titers on 30 days after primary shot were 78.4, 68.8, 68.8, 37.9, and 15.6; mean neutralizing antibody titers were 65.4, 12, 6.1, 65.6 and 0.5 against Hantaan, Seoul, Belgrade, Puumala and Sin Nombre viruses, respectively. The mean IF antibody titers on 30 days after booster shot were 686.9, 567.5, 550.4, 516.3, and 430.9; and neutralizing antibody titers were 710.8, 41.9, 24.3, 409.9, and 1.6 against Hantaan, Seoul, Belgrade, Puumala and Sin Nombre viruses, respectively.

• The Journal of Korean Society of Virology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.155-163
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• 1999

Hantaan virus (HTNV), the etiologic agent of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), belongs to the genus Hantavirus, and has three single negative stranded RNA genome segments. HTNV strain Howang isolated from the blood of severe case of Korean HFRS is more virulent than HTNV 76/118 and the M and S genome segments' nucleotide sequence of Howang strain showed 93.5% and 94% homology to each segment of HTNV 76/118. We have obtained 6533 nucleotides long sequence of the L genome segment of Howang strain using reverse transcriptase in conjunction with PCR amplification and compared to other hantaviruses. The messenger sense of the L segment contains one long single long open reading frame of 2151 amino acids, which encodes a deduced RNA dependent RNA polymerase of 246.4 kDa caculated molecular weight protein. The nucleotide sequence of the L segment of Howang strain shows 93%, 74%, 66%, 65% homology to HTNV 76/118, Seoul virus 80/39, Puumala virus $H{\ddot{a}}lln{\ddot{a}}s$ B1 and Sin Nombre virus, respectively. The amino acid sequence of the L segment of Howang strain shows 99%, 85%, 68%, 68% homology to HTNV 76/118, Seoul virus 80/39, Puumala virus $H{\ddot{a}}lln{\ddot{a}}s$ B1 and Sin Nombre virus, respectively.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.124-128
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• 2002

Hantaan (HTN) and Puumala (PUU) viruses are major etiological agents of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), an important public health problem in Korea after the Korean War. The objective of present study was to determine allergenic potency of an inactivated combination vaccine against HTN and PUU viruses inflection. As a series of allergenicity assessment, a homologous active systemic anaphylaxis (ASA) and homologous/heterologous passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA) tests using the mice and guinea pigs were carried out. In the ASA test, no anaphylactic symptoms were observed in the guinea pigs sensitized with the vaccine alone as well as the vaccine emulsified with an adjuvant. By homologous PCA test, the vatscine did not induced the potential IgE antibody production in the sera obtained from the sensitized guinea pigs. In addition, IgE against the vaccine was not significantly enhanced from the mice inoculated with the vaccine, which was judged by the heterologous PCA test in rats. On the other hand, the inoculation of ovalbumin appeared to allergenic reactions both in the ASA and PCA tests. The results suggest that a combination vaccine against HW and PUU viruses have no allergenic potential in mice or guinea pigs.

• The Journal of Korean Society of Virology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.49-57
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• 1997

We developed a sensitive, nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to detect Hantaan, Seoul, Belgrade, Puumala and Sin Nombre viruses in animal tissues. Total RNA was extracted from blood, lung or kidney samples of experimentally-infected hamsters by using the guanidine isothiocyanate buffer-acid phenol-chloroform method. Genus-reactive outer primers were derived from the consensus region of the G1 gene sequences of several hantaviruses. Serotype-specific primers were selected within the region amplified by the outer primers. To examine the sensitivity and specificity of the test, we diluted known quantities of Hantaan, Seoul, Belgrade, Puumala and Sin Nombre viruses in human or hamster immune sera before performing the nested RT-PCR. We could detect as little as 1 pfu of virus, even in the presence of high-titer neutralizing antibodies, and the serotype-specific primers amplified only homologous serotype viruses. RT-PCR with these primers demonstrated virus in the blood of experimentally-infected hamsters as early as four days to as late as 30 days after infection. A comparison of a standard immunofluorescent antibody screening test (IFAT) to nested RT-PCR with RNA extracted from lung or kidney tissues of the hamsters, demonstrated that RT-PCR to be more sensitive for identifying viruses in these tissues.

• The Journal of Korean Society of Virology
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.275-285
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• 1998

Based on the geographic range and distribution of its rodent reservoir host, the European common vole (Microtus arvalis), Tula virus is likely to be widespread throughout Eurasia. Tula virus-infected voles have been captured in Central Russia, Austria, Czech and Slovak Republics, and the former Yugoslavia. Although serologic evidence for Hantaan (HTN) or Seoul (SEO) virus infection can be found in the vast majority of the more than 300 cases of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) occurring annually in Korea, approximately 4% of Korean patients with HFRS show a more than 4-fold higher antibody titer to Puumala (PUU) virus than to HTN or SEO virus by double-sandwich IgM ELISA, suggesting the existence of pathogenic Puumala-related hantaviruses in Korea. To further define the geographic distribution and genetic diversity of Tula virus in Eurasia and to investigate the existence of previously unrecognized Microtus-borne hantavirus in Korea, arvicolid rodents were captured in Lodz, Poland in 1995 and in Yunchon-kun, Kyungki-do during April to May, 1998. In addition, sera from 18 Korean HFRS patients who showed higher (or the same) antibody titer to Tula virus than HTN and SEO viruses were examined for hantavirus RNA by RT-PCR. Hantaviral sequences were not detected in any of the 18 patients or in 35 reed voles (Microtus fortis) in Korea. Alignment and comparison of a 208-nucleotide region of the S segment, amplified from lung tissues of two hantavirus-seropositive Marvalis captured in Poland, revealed $80.8{\sim}83.2%$ sequence similarity, respectively, with Tula virus strains from Central Russia and the Czech and Slovak Republics. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the newfound Tula virus strains from Poland were closely related to other Tula hantaviruses from Eurasia.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.99-103
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• 2003

Hantavirus are rodent-borne RNA virus that belongs to the family Bunyaviridae. Those viruses persistently infect a variety of rodents, and are transmitted by aerosols of their urine, feces and saliva. Antibody titers of sera obtained from normal laboratory rodents against hantaviruses were investigated by indirect immunofluorscence antibody technique (IFA), Seroconversion rates of normal laboratory rodents showed higher in rats than that from hamster and mongolian (M). gerbil. Theses rates of normal laboratory rodents also showed higher in titers against puumala virus (PUUV) than in hantaan (HTNV) and seoul virus (SEOV). We are concerned about infections caused by hantaviruses, especially by PUUV, occurred in laboratory rodents.

• The Journal of Korean Society of Virology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.337-345
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• 1998

Hantaviruses are distributed in rodent population world-widely even in geographical areas where hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) has not been reported. Various species of Family Muridae and Arvicolidae serve as the natural reservoirs of hantaviruses. Hantaan virus, Seoul virus, Puumala virus, Prospect HII virus, Sin Nombre virus and New York virus are members of genus Hantavirus and isolated from lungs of A. agrarius, R. norvegicus, C. glareolus, M. pennsylvanicus, P. maniculatus and P. leucopus respectively. This experiment was intended to find the distribution of hantavirus infection among wild rodents and isolate the hantavirus from lung tissue of seropositve Apodemus peninsulae, and compared the nucleotide and amino acid sequences with prototype of hantaan virus 76-118 strain. Hantaviral sequences were amplified from lung tissues of A. peninsulae by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Alignment and comparison of the 324 nucleotide of G2 region of M-genomic segment diverged 4.6% and 0% at the nucleotide and amino acid levels, and complete N protein-coding region of S-genomic segment diverged 3.7% and 1.4% nucleotide and amino acid levels, respectively. This is the report to spill-over on the hantaan virus from A. agrarius to A. peninsulae in Korea.

• The Journal of Korean Society of Virology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.157-164
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• 1998

Various hantaviruses were isolated from HFRS patients and various rodent species, in many parts of the world. Bandicotas were captured at Yogyakarta, east region of Sumatura island, Indonesia; and 4 rodents species including Bandicotas were captured at Chiang Rai in Thailand during 1995. Sera were collected from captured bandicotas and other rodent spicies were screened for antibody test against Hantaan (HTN), Seoul (SEO), Puumala (PUU) and Sin Nombre (SN) viruses by immunofluoresence antibody assay (IFA). Hantavirus antigen in lung tissues were tested by IFA. Among 55 captured Bandicota indica in Indonesia, 14 (25.5%) were antibody positive against HTN, SEO, PUU and SN virus. Hantavirus antigen were detected from 5 (9.0%) out of 55 lungs tested. Among 34 captured Bandicota indica in Thailand, 9 (26.5%) were antibody positive against HTN, SEO, PUU and SN virus. Among 34 lungs tissues of Bandicota indica examined, 3 (8.8%) were antigen positive. In other rodent species, antibody positive against Hantaviruses of Rattus rattus, Rattus losea and Mus cervicolor were 4/62 (6.5%), 5/25 (20%), 1/1 (100%), respectively. But no one has antigen in their lung tissues. Antigen positive lungs suspension were inoculated into vero E6 cells for virus isolation and 4 viruses were isolated from Indonesian Badicota and 3 viruses from Thailand.