n.
Any of a group of viruses carried by rodents that cause epidemic hemorrhagic fever and severe respiratory infections in humans.
[After the Hantan River, South Korea (near which Westerners were first infected by the virus in the 1950s).]
Dictionary:
han·ta·vi·rus (hăn'tə-vī'rəs)
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[After the Hantan River, South Korea (near which Westerners were first infected by the virus in the 1950s).]
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| Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: hantavirus |
For more information on hantavirus, visit Britannica.com.
| US History Encyclopedia: Hantavirus |
Hantavirus refers both to a family of biological viruses that can be transmitted from animals to humans and to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome—the highly fatal infection caused by the viruses. Most often transmitted by exposure to the droppings of rodents, especially deer mice, infected individuals experience fever, nausea, vomiting, muscle and head aches, and, if left untreated, respiratory distress that can result in death. Other hantaviruses produce kidney disease.
As of 2003, an effective treatment for hantavirus was not yet available. Although long recognized in other countries, the disease was fairly rare in the United States, and the likelihood of infection was low. The first outbreak in the United States occurred in May 1993 in the Four Corners area of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah, and by April 2001, 283 cases of the disease had been reported in thirty-one states.
Bibliography
Hjelle, B., S. Jenison, G. Mertz, et al. "Emergence of Hantaviral Disease in the Southwestern United States." Western Journal of Medicine 161, no. 5 (1994): 467–473.
Schmaljohn, C. S., and S. T. Nichol, eds. Hantaviruses. Berlin and New York: Springer Verlag, 2001.
| Columbia Encyclopedia: hantavirus |
A second disease, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, was identified in the United States in 1993 and is caused by at least three strains of the virus. It is known to be carried by deer mice, white-footed mice, and cotton rats. This disease is much more deadly, causing flulike symptoms that can lead to fluid accumulation in the lungs and death. One of the pulmonary strains, the Sin Nombre virus (named for a Spanish massacre of Native Americans that occurred in the canyon where it was discovered), was the cause of a 1993 outbreak in the Four Corners area of the SW United States that killed 32 of 53 people known to have been infected. Sporadic occurrences of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome still occur in North America. Outbreaks of a hantavirus strain that apparently can be spread from person to person occurred in South America in 1996 and 1997. There is no vaccination for pulmonary hantavirus. Treatment includes respiratory and hemodynamic support; the antiviral drug ribavirin has been effective in some cases.
| Veterinary Dictionary: Hantavirus |
A genus in the family Bunyaviridae.
| Epidemics and Public Health | |
| epidemic hemorrhagic fever | |
| Hantavirus Infections: Diagnosis |
| How do you check if a mouse has hantavirus? | |
| What does a hantavirus look like? | |
| What rodent is the primary carrier of the hantavirus? |
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![]() | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more | |
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![]() | US History Encyclopedia. © 2006 through a partnership of Answers Corporation. All rights reserved. Read more | |
![]() | Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/. Read more | |
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