TSU has discovered a rare species of hantavirus in the Tomsk Region
The staff of the TSU Biological Institute, in joint research with the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-Being “Vector”, has found a rare and poorly studied Altai hantavirus in the Tomsk Region for the first time. The carrier of the hantavirus was a type of shrew. Hantaviruses are fraught with the danger of hemorrhagic fever. In 2019, an outbreak of this infection occurred in the Saratov Region, where 1,500 people fell ill. During the new field season, TSU biologists will continue to study potential carriers of hantaviruses, in order to prevent mass diseases in people.
- The Altai hantavirus was detected in biomaterial collected in 2019. The analysis was carried out by the specialists of the Federal Service “Vector” (Novosibirsk), says Alexander Zhigalin, a member of the Laboratory of Biodiversity Monitoring, associate professor at the TSU Biological Institute. - Traditionally, the red vole and field mouse are considered the main carrier of hantaviruses in Russia. However, other mammals are able to spread these pathogens, so in 2019 we began to conduct a targeted study of insectivores for the presence of hantaviruses.
Read more: http://en.tsu.ru/news/tsu-has-discovered-a-rare-species-of-hantavirus-in-the-tomsk-region/
