| Puumala orthohantavirus | |
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Virus classification 
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| (unranked): | Virus |
| Realm: | Riboviria |
| Kingdom: | Orthornavirae |
| Phylum: | Negarnaviricota |
| Class: | Ellioviricetes |
| Order: | Bunyavirales |
| Family: | Hantaviridae |
| Genus: | Orthohantavirus |
| Species: |
Puumala orthohantavirus
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Puumala orthohantavirus (PUUV) is a species of Orthohantavirus. Humans infected with the virus may develop a haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) known as nephropathia epidemica. Puumala orthohantavirus HFRS is lethal in less than 0.5% of the cases.[1] Rarely, PUUV infection can cause Guillain–Barré syndrome.[2]
Puumala orthohantavirus was discovered and named in 1980 named after Puumala, a municipalityinFinland.[3] The virus is found predominantly in Scandinavia and Finland, although it has also been reported elsewhere in Northern Europe, Poland and Russia. Because the bank vole (Myodes glareolus) acts as a reservoir for the virus, nephropathia epidemica cases track with the vole population in a three- to four-year cycle. Humans are infected through inhalation of dust from vole droppings.[4] It has been theorized that Puumala orthohantavirus, unlike other members of the genus Orthohantavirus, may also have lethal effects on its rodent host.[5]
In August 2014 an Israeli researcher studying the behavior of the bank vole in Finland died after contracting the Puumala orthohantavirus, which caused a complete breakdown of her immune system.[6]
| Puumala orthohantavirus |
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