The continued emergence of hantaviruses: isolation of a Seoul virus implicated in human disease, United Kingdom, October 2012

Abstract

Following a suspected case of hantavirus in a patientsuffering from acute kidney injury, rodents fromthe patient’s property in Yorkshire and the Humber,United Kingdom (UK) were screened for hantaviruses.Hantavirus RNA was detected via RT-PCR in two Rattusnorvegicus. Complete sequencing and phylogeneticanalysis established the virus as a Seoul hantavirus,which we have provisionally designated as strainHumber. This is the first hantavirus isolated from wildrodents in the UK and confirms the presence of a pathogenicSeoul virus in Europe.