Comment on Jameson et al.: Prevalence of Antibodies against Hantaviruses in Serum and Saliva of Adults Living or Working on Farms in Yorkshire, United Kingdom

Viruses

Jan Clement²  Paula McKenna¹  Valentijn Vergote² 

[1] Janssen, Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, Beerse, 2340, Belgium; E-Mail:;National Reference Centre for Hantavirus Infections, Laboratory of Clinical Virology, University Hospitals Gasthuisberg, Leuven, 3000, Belgium; E-Mails:

关键词: Seoul virus (SEOV);    hantavirus;    wild rat;    prevalence;    risk factors;    hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS);    U.K.;    Northern Ireland;   

DOI  :  10.3390/v6093415

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

This British hantavirus IgG prevalence study, aimed at 119 asymptomatic farmers in England, and using indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) as screening technique, concluded that rat-transmitted Seoul virus (SEOV) might be the main suspect as hantaviral pathogen in the UK. Exactly the same conclusion, using the same IFA screening technique, resulted from a 1994 serosurvey in the same country, and in 627 clinical cases plus 100 healthy controls. SEOV-positive study subjects were also mainly farmers with heavy rat-exposure, but residing in Northern-Ireland, a region where all other known rodent reservoirs for pathogenic hantaviruses are known to be absent, except the wild rat. A rodent capture action in and around the farms of eight seropositives confirmed SEOV seropositivity in 21.6% of 51 rats. All SEOV seropositives were patients, hospitalized with an acute feverish condition, a majority of which having the clinical picture of hantavirus-induced nephropathy, known as hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). Leptospirosis, often mimicking perfectly HFRS, was serologically excluded. Thus, SEOV was established as a human hantaviral pathogen in the UK and in Europe 20 years ago.

【 授权许可】

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© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.