Skåne) carry a virus that can cause hemorrhagic fever in humans. This finding was made more than 500 km south of the previously known range. ‘We were surprised that such a high proportion of the relatively few voles that we caught were actually carrying a hantavirus that makes people ill’, says an infectious disease doctor. The virus strain discovered in Skåne appears to be more closely related to strains from Finland and Karelia than to the variants found in northern Sweden and Denmark.
Researchers have discovered that bank voles in southern Swedenthan to strains found in northern Sweden and Denmark, a new study from Uppsala University in collaboration with infectious diseases doctors in Kristianstad revealed. The virus strain discovered in Skåne, more than 500 km south of the previously known range, is closely related to strains from Finland and Karelia. The finding suggests that voles in Skåne carry a virus that can cause hemorrhagic fever in humans. The study was published in the scientific journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. The researchers were surprised by the high proportion of voles caught in the region that were found to be carrying the virus.Elin Economou Lundeberg, an infectious diseases doctor at Kristianstad Central Hospital and one of the study’s first authors, stated that a case of a person being infected with a hantavirus was discovered in an area located more than 500 km south of where the virus was previously known to be present. Hantaviruses are typically found in rodents such as mice, rats, and voles. Some types of hantaviruses can infect humans and cause two main types of diseases: hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). Both of these diseases are reportable under the Communicable Diseases Act due to their potential to cause serious illness.Hantaviruses are a group of viruses that can cause various forms of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HRFS), which can lead to serious health problems and even death. In northern and central Europe, the Puumala hantavirus is known for causing a milder form of HRFS called ‘vole fever’ (nephropathia epidemica). However, research has shown that this hantavirus can also lead to severe cases of HRFS, and in some instances, it can be fatal. In Sweden, there are 100-450 cases of vole fever that require hospitalization each year, mostly in the northern part of the country.
In 2018, a locally acquired case of vole fever was reported in Skåne, which is more than 500 km south of the previously known southernmost incidence of the disease in Sweden, which was north of Uppsala. Anoth rnrnThe first case of hantavirus in Skåne was identified in 2020. The patients had not traveled and were infected locally. Bank voles near the patients’ homes were caught and tested for hantavirus. 9 out of 74 voles had hantavirus genes. Genetic analysis revealed that the virus is different from those in northern Sweden and Denmark, and is closely related to viruses from Finland and Karelia. The next research step is to determine how the virus spread to this area.The article discusses the origin of the virus and its distribution in the southern parts of Sweden. Professor Åke Lundkvist of Uppsala University, a co-author of the study, raises questions about why more people haven’t become ill if the virus has been in the area for a long time. He also questions whether the virus has recently become established in Skåne and has just begun to spread. The completion of the study was considerably delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Lundkvist emphasizes the importance of investigating the causes of infectious diseases as quickly as possible.