Serological evidence of hantavirus disease in Northern Ireland

Abstract

Since, to our knowledge, no clinically documented cases of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) have been reported in Northern Ireland, a sero‐epidemiological study was carried out to assess the degree of Hantavirus immunity in a group of 627 Northern Irish patients presenting with symptoms suggestive of HFRS and 100 healthy controls. IFA screening for IgG Hantavirus specific antibodies was carried out with a panel of up to 9 different Hantaviral antigens. IgM screening was performed using a commercially available ji‐capture ELISA based upon two recombinant Hantaviral nucleocapsid antigens. A seropositivity of 2.1% (15/727) was recorded, with an almost exclusive reaction against a rat‐derived R22VP30 strain of the Seoul serotype. Sole reliance upon non‐rat‐derived classic screening antigens Hantaan (HTN 76–118) and Puumala (CG 18–20) would have resulted in the detection of only 2/15 (13.3%) of cases in IgG IFA, and 8/14 (57.1%) of the cases in IgM ELISA. The findings indicate that for the first time in Europe, and more specifically in N. Ireland, non‐laboratory outbreaks of HFRS may be caused by wild rats acting as a reservoir for a Seoul‐like Hantavirus. Conventional Hantavirus serology using Hantaan and Puumala as screening antigens does not appear sufficient for the detection of such cases of HFRS. Hence, we propose the addition of a rat derived Hantaviral antigen to the antigen screening panel as a means of improving the specificity of the detection methods.