Hantavirus Found in African Wood Mouse

Researchers have discovered the first African hantavirus, a type of rodent-borne virus that can cause life-threatening infections in humans when it is inhaled through aerosolized rodent urine or droppings. A team led by Jan ter Meulen while he was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) international research scholar at the University of Conakry in the Republic of Guinea, identified the new virus in an African wood mouse (Hylomiscus simus) in Sangassou, Guinea. Their findings are published in the May 2006 issue of the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, published early online on April 18, 2006. "Source"[ http://www.hhmi.org/news/termeulen20060418.html].

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