ISOLATION OF A STRAIN OF A HANTAAN VIRUS FROM A FATAL CASE OF HEMORRHAGIC-FEVER WITH RENAL SYNDROME IN SLOVENIA

Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) has been serologically co nfirmed in Slovenia during the last seven years. There is evidence tha t three hantaviruses (Hantaan, Puumala, and a newly described form ter med Dobrava) circulate simultaneously in this area. Recently, a hantav irus was isolated from the urine and brain tissue of a fatal case of H FRS. Positive immunofluorescent reactions with reference human sera an d monoclonal antibodies were first recognized after the second cell cu lture passage. Extensive cross-reactivity between our isolate and prot otype Hantaan virus, strain 76-118, and Hantaan-like isolates from the former Yugoslavia, Fojnica and Plitvice, was revealed by enzyme-linke d immunosorbent assay with specific rat antisera. The reaction pattern of the isolate was similar to the prototype Hantaan virus by indirect immunofluorescent assay with a panel of monoclonal antibodies. Furthe rmore, the specificity of the isolates was confirmed by analysis of po lymerase chain reaction products of this virus with five restriction e ndonucleases. This appears to be the first isolation of a strain of pr ototype Hantaan virus from a fatal case of HFRS in Europe.