Genetic Identificationo f a HantavirusA ssociated with an Outbreako f Acute RespiratoryI llness

Authors

Stuart T. Nichol, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta
Christina F. Spiropoulou, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta
Sergey Morzunov, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta
Pierre E. Rollin, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta
Thomas G. Ksiazek, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta
Heinz Feldmann, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta
Anthony Sanchez, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta
James E. Childs, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, AtlantaFollow
Sherif Zaki, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta
Clarence J. Peters, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta

Date of this Version

1993

Comments

Published in SCIENCE * VOL. 262 * 5 NOVEMBER 1993

Abstract

A mysterious respiratory illness with high mortality was recently reported in the southwestern United States. Serologic studies implicated the hantaviruses, rodent-borne RNA viruses usually associated elsewhere in the world with hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome. A genetic detection assay amplified hantavirus-specific DNA fragments from RNA extracted from the tissues of patients and deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) caught at or near patient residences. Nucleotide sequence analysis revealed the associated virus to be a new hantavirus and provided a direct genetic link between infection in patients and rodents.