Seoul hantavirus in Europe: first demonstration of the virus genome in wildRattus norvegicuscaptured in France.

Although rats (Rattus rattusorRattus norvegicus) worldwide have been found to carry Seoul hantavirus, there are at present only a very few reports of confirmed human Seoul hantavirus infections outside Asia, where the virus, in certain areas, is responsible for approximately 25% of the human hantavirus infections. In Europe, no confirmed human infections outside laboratories have been described, and although rats occasionally have been found to be antibody positive, the viral genome has not been demonstrated in these animals. The present report describes the first confirmed finding of Seoul hantavirus inR. norvegicuscaptured in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]