Andes virus (ANDV)
Bayou virus (BAYV)
Black Creek Canal virus (BCCV)
Cano Delgadito virus (CADV)
Dobrava-Belgrade virus (DOBV)
El Moro Canyon virus (ELMCV)
Hantaan virus (HTNV)
Isla Vista virus (ISLAV)
Khabarovsk virus (KHAV)
Laguna Negra virus (LANV)
Muleshoe virus (MULV)
New York virus (NYV)
Prospect Hill virus (PHV)
Puumala virus (PUUV)
Rio Mamore virus (RIOMV)
Rio Segundo virus (RIOSV)
Seoul virus (SEOV)
Sin Nombre virus (SNV)
Thailand virus (THAIV)
Thottapalayam virus (TPMV)
Topografov virus (TOPV)
Tula virus (TULV)
Hantavirus is one of the four genera of the family Bunyaviridae. Hantaviruses are spread by rodents and target the kidneys, lungs or pulmonary system, and heart. The word Hantavirus is derived from the Hantaan River , where the Hantaan virus (the etiologic agent of Korean hemorrhagic fever) was first isolated. The disease associated with Hantaan virus is called Korean hemorrhagic fever or hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS).

Hantaviruses are a relatively newly discovered class of virus; the disease entity HFRS was first recognized by Western medicine during the Korean War.

In 1993, a newly-recognized species of hantavirus was found to be behind the Hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS, also called HPS) caused by the Sin Nombre virus in New Mexico and other Four Corners states. In addition to Hantaan virus and Sin Nombre virus, several other hantaviruses have been implicated as etiologic agents for either HFRS and HCPS. Regions especially affected by HFRS include China, the Korean Peninsula, Russia (Hantaan and Seoul viruses), and northern and western Europe (Puumala and Dobrava viruses). Regions with the highest incidences of HCPS include Patagonian Argentina, Chile, Brazil, the United States, Canada, and Panama, where a milder form of disease that spares the heart has been recognized. The two agents of HCPS in South America are Andes virus (also called Oran, Castelo de Sonhos, Lechiguanas, Juquitiba, Araraquara, and Bermejo viruses, among many other synonyms), which is the only hantavirus that can be transmitted from person to person, and Laguna Negra virus . In the U.S., minor causes of HCPS include New York virus , Bayou virus , and possibly Black Creek Canal virus .

HFRS is caused by viruses that target the kidneys (hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome) and cause kidney disease, especially among rural dwellers who have contact with rodents. HCPS targets the lungs, but deaths due to HCPS are almost always the result of a shutdown of the heart, causing hypotension, shock, and/or malignant arrhythmias.

Links

• [1]
• CDC's Hantavirus Information page