Hantavirus

Paris V., Sophia T., Mary S.,

Jennifer M.
Period 2
 South Korea
★ Korea was initially a part of Japan
★ Korea broke free from Japan
during WWII with the help of the
United States
★ Korea was then divided into two:
North Korea and South Korea
★ North Korea is administered by
the Soviet Union, while South
Korea is administered by the
United States
 How Emergent Diseases Spread
❖ Diseases can spread into human populations, especially when there are a
lot of people in an area. You could get sick by riding a bus, not washing
your hands, or being in a cramped area with some sick people in it. The
pathogen could be transmitted through the air, water, food, or even
through physical contact. Hantavirus is spread by rodents.
 Molecular Biology .

❖ Molecular biology allows certain pathogens to infect target cells, because

each one has different characteristics that allows them to infect cells. If
the outer defense layer is damaged, the pathogen can enter. It can also
enter through openings in the body.
 Viral Recombination
★ Exchange of genetic material between two related viruses during
coinfection of a host cell.
★ The recombination of two similar viruses can come to create a new
virus.
 Reproductive
Cycle
1. a hantavirus virion attaches to a receptor on the cell
surface
2. induces endocytosis signalling
3. the virion enters the cell in clathrin-coated vesicles
4. the clathrin coat of the vesicle is disassembled
5. virion-harbouring vesicle enters the early endosome
6. matures into a late endosome
7. release of the viral ribonucleoproteins
8. virus is directly transported to the Golgi complex
from the late endosome, either before or after
fusion. Viral replication is thought to occur in viral
factories that might be located at the ERGIC or the
cis-Golgi
9. nascent viruses are thought to bud into the cis-
Golgi, from where they are transported to the
plasma membrane for release
10. egress of progeny virions takes place at the plasma
membrane
 Social & Cultural Factors
➢ Lack of knowledge, not know that rodents carry hantavirus, what
hantavirus is, and what kind of effects it may have, leads to the spread
of the disease
➢ It mainly depends on the rodents, if there are a lot of rodents in a place
there will also be a huge probability that some of the rodents carry the
hantavirus
➢ Rodents are mainly found in rural places like farms
Hantavirus Pulmonary
Syndrome (HPS)
Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome
➔ A rare respiratory disease that is severe and could be fatal
➔ Very first case: during the Korean War (1950-1953)
➔ First case in the US: 1993, in the southwestern area
➔ Deer mouse (Peromyscus Maniculatus) , about 38% were found to be
positive as hantavirus carriers
➔ Person to person transmission is unlikely
➔ VERY RARE, about 1 in a 13 million chances
 HPS
“...tight band around my neck and a
➢ hantavirus: belongs to the
pillow over my face..”
family of bunyaviruses
➢ made up of negative, three
single-stranded RNA

SYMPTOMS
❖ fever
❖ shortness of breath
❖ chills
❖ fatigue
❖ head, muscle aches
❖ dizziness
Diagnosis & Treatment
❏ if a person is experiencing the
symptoms of HPS, immediately
report to a hospital
❏ oxygen therapy
❏ there is currently no cure or
vaccine for HPS

Prevention
★ eliminating or minimizing
contact with rodents at home
★ clean up easy-to-get food
Colorado and Yosemite Valley
Three people have died from the
Hantavirus in Colorado. In Yosemite,
a testing program has not detected
any Hantavirus in the region. It’s not
uncommon in places that has a lot
of rodents, such as deer mice,
squirrels, and rats.
 What did we learn from this?
-In a short summary, we learned about
pathogens. We had a chance to learn about
one specific virus more thoroughly and we
were able to spread awareness and teach
people helpful facts on how you can avoid
such viruses.
References/Sources

http://www.cdc.gov/
http://www.webmd.com/
http://www.nature.com/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
http://www.medicinenet.com/
http://www.who.int/
http://www.livescience.com/
Thank You!ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ