Puumala_virus
Puumala orthohantavirus
Human virus discovered in 1980
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 municipality in Finland.[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]