MOLECULAR AND ANTIGENIC CHARACTERIZATION OF HV114, A HANTAVIRUS ISOLATED FROM A PATIENT WITH HEMORRHAGIC-FEVER WITH RENAL SYNDROME IN CHINA

The relationship of a Hantaan-like virus (HV114), isolated from a pati ent with haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in Hubei Province, Peo ple's Republic of China, to other pathogenic hantaviruses was evaluate d by cross-neutralization studies and nucleotide sequence analysis of the M genome segment. Plaque reduction neutralization assays indicated that HV114 is closely related to prototype Hantaan (HTN) virus, strai n 76118, which was originally isolated from an Apodemus field mouse in Korea. Comparison of the M genome segments of HTN 76-118 and HV114 re vealed sequence identity of 84.7% and 95-4% for nucleotides and deduce d amino acids. respectively. These data demonstrate that HV114 and 76- 118 are two closely related but different isolates of HTN virus, estab lishing the scientific basis for testing and future use in China of a recombinant vaccine expressing the genome of HTN virus strain 76-118.