Hantavirus in South Korea — 1980

Seoul virus identified in urban brown rats — global hantavirus distribution recognised

Overview

In 1980 Lee Ho-Wang's group at Korea University — building on the 1976 discovery of Hantaan virus — identified hantavirus antigen in urban brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) trapped in Seoul. The new strain, designated Seoul virus, was distinct from Hantaan virus and pointed to a fundamental observation: hantaviruses were carried by a commensal urban rodent already established globally, not just by rural agricultural rodents. The finding explained scattered clusters of mild haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in cities far from typical Hantaan virus settings, and set up subsequent decades of urban hantavirus surveillance.

South Korea baseline

Hantavirus's namesake region (Hantaan River). Inactivated Hantaan vaccine available for high-risk populations.

Source: Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA)

Relevant strain

References & primary sources

• KDCA — Hantavirus

Other years tracked for South Korea