Korean hemorrhagic fever(KHF)was recognized for the first time in Korea in 1951 during the Korean War among United Nations troops but similar diseases to KHF had been reported in Russia, China and elsewhere.
In 1976, Lee and Lee discovered a specific antigen of KHF and demonstrated that this antigen is the etiologic agent of KHF and perfected serologic test for diagnosis of the disease in 1978. The etiologic agent of KHF was named Hantaan virus after Hantaan river in 1980.
Very recently, close etiological relations have been proved by serologic means between KHF in Korea and hemorrhagic nephroso-nephritis in the USSR, between KHF and nephropathia epidemica in Scandinavia, between KHF and epidemic hemorrhagic fever(EHF) in Japan and between KHF and EHF in China. The working group on HFRS at a WHO meeting in Tokyo February 1982 recommended that the above mentioned disesses with different names should be referred as "Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome (HFRS)".
Although there are several reports on transmission, sensitivities of various animals and electronmicroscopic findigns of Hantaan virus but no report was described on physiochemical properties of the virus. This is the first reports on the effect of temperature and pH on the infectivity of Hantaan virus in Apodemus mice.
1. The diameter of Hantaan virus was approximately 90nm.
2. Hantaan virus was inactivated rapidly at above 37℃. The infectivity of virus, however, was slowly decreased but preserved for about one month at 4℃.
3. The optimal pH for infectivity of Hantaan virus in Apodemus mice was 7.6 but it was inactivated completely a below pH 5.0.
4. It was demonstrated that BSS with 0.2% bovine albumin, pH 7.2∼7.6 was the most stable diluent for study of the infectivity of Hantaan virus.
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