Belgrade Virus: A New Hantavirus Causing Severe Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome in Yugoslavia

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases Vol. 166; no. 1; pp. 113 - 120
• Main Authors: Gligic, Ana, Dimkovic, Nada, Xiao, Shu-Yuan, Buckle, Guy J., Jovanovic, Dragan, Velimirovic, Dragisa, Stojanovic, Radivoj, Obradovic, Mirceta, Diglisic, Gordana, Micic, Jasmina, Asher, David M., LeDuc, James W., Yanagihara, Richard, Carleton Gajdusek, D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago, IL The University of Chicago Press 01-07-1992; University of Chicago Press
• Subjects: Adult; Animals; Antibodies; Antibodies, Viral - blood; Antigens, Viral - blood; Antigens, Viral - urine; Biological and medical sciences; Blood; Cross Reactions; Epidemiology; Fever; Fluorescent Antibody Technique; Gene Amplification; Hantaan virus; Hantavirus; Hantavirus - genetics; Hantavirus - immunology; Hantavirus - isolation & purification; Hantavirus - ultrastructure; Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome; Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome - microbiology; Humans; Infectious diseases; Major Articles; Male; Medical sciences; Mice; Microscopy, Electron; Microscopy, Immunoelectron; Middle Aged; Neutralization Tests; Puumala virus; RNA, Viral - analysis; Urine; Viruses; Yugoslavia; Yugoslavia; Immunohistochemistry; Hemorrhagic fever; Relapse; Urinary system disease; Exploration; Hemopathy; Medical screening; Infection; Pathology; Spectrometry; Treatment; Viral disease; Arbovirus disease; Risk factor; Cytogenetics; Complication; Evolution; Diagnosis; Technique; Molecular biology; Resuscitation
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1093/infdis/166.1.113

Two biologically and genetically distinct hantaviruses were isolated from blood and urine specimens collected from four Yugoslavian patients with clinically severe hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). Viral isolates from three patients, designated strains Belgrade 1–3, were distinct from Hantaan, Seoul, Puumala, and Prospect Hill viruses as determined by plaque-reduction neutralization tests and restriction analysis of enzymatically amplified M-segment fragments. The fourth isolate, called Kraljevo, was indistinguishable from Hantaan virus. Strains Belgrade 1 and 2, like the Kraljevo strain, caused a fatal meningoencephalitis in newborn mice inoculated with 100 pfu of virus intracerebrally and intraperitoneally. Strain Belgrade 3 was much less neurovirulent, requiring 30,000 pfu of virus to cause fatal disease in mice. These data indicate that two distinct hantaviruses, one of which constitutes a new serotype, cause clinically severe HFRS in Yugoslavia.