Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome

An acute febrile disease occurring predominately in Asia. It is characterized by fever, prostration, vomiting, hemorrhagic phenonema, shock, and renal failure. It is caused by any one of several closely related species of the genus Hantavirus. The most severe form is caused by hantaan virus whose natural host is the rodent Apodemus agrarius. Milder forms are caused by seoul virus and transmitted by the rodents Rattus rattus and R. norvegicus, and the puumala virus with transmission by Clethrionomys galreolus. Mild form of hfrs rarely hemorrhagic and seldom fatal. Caused by the puumala virus.