Features of circulation of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) virus among small mammals in the European U.S.S.R.

The use of indirect fluorescent antibody testing (IFAT) and enzyme linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) procedures allowed the hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) virus antigen to be detected not only in the known reservoir host, Clethrionomys glareolus, but also in 7 other species of small mammals in European foci of the U.S.S.R. Marked viscerotropism of HFRS virus and the participation of brown fat in maintaining the infection in rodents were demonstrated. The frequency of detection of circulating antigen and antibody to HFRS virus in rodents is indicative of the high level of activity of the virus in its epizootic foci.

Adaptation to laboratory and wild animals of the haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome virus present in the foci of European U.S.S.R. Brief report.

Four strains of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome virus (HFRSV) from rodents or patients in European U.S.S.R. foci of HFRS were isolated in laboratory bred C. glareolus. The sensitivity of these animals to HFRSV was compared with that of five other laboratory and wild animals.