Hantaan virus, a causative agent of Korean hemorrhagic fever, now called hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome was identified in 1976, resisted on Arbovirus Catalogue in 1978 and classified as a species of genus Hantavirus, Family Bunyaviridae.
Hantaan virus has lipid-containing envelope and easilly loses its infectivity by treatment with lipid solvents such as acetone, xylene, ether, and can be inactivated at 37℃ for 48 hrs, and 56℃30 min. So Hantaan virus suspension and infected
tissue
have been kept at -70℃for long-term storage.
In this study, Hantaanvirus suspension in sucrose and was treated with acetone, dried, and powered in vacuum.
Powdered Hantaan virus was kept at room temperature for 4-6 months and then suspended in original volume of distilled water. This Hantaan virus suspension was inoculated into ICR suckling mouse brains, paralysed mice were killed, brains were
collected
and non-paralysed mice were killed on day-19 after inoculation of virus suspension.
Collected brains were stained and examined by ordinary indirect fluorescent antibody technic. Hantaan virus antigens were found in brains inoculated with 4 month-exposed virus but brains inoculated with 5 month-kept virus showed Hantaan virus
antigen
only in 1 brain out of 13. Brains inoculated with the 6 month-exposed at room temperature showed no specific fluorescence. So, infectivity of Hantaan virus could be preserved at least for 4 months at room temperature by sucrose-acetone treatment.
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