One Year Later, The Hantavirus Investigation Continues

on the hantavirus--a mysterious microbe that last year caused the sudden deaths of more than a dozen men and women in the southwest United States. Part 1, presented in the July 11, 1994, edition of The Scientist (page 14), described the effective cooperation among scientists to identify the microorganism. This article provides an account of how the research community is following up on hantavirus studies and what the prospects are

Written byKaren Kreeger
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on the hantavirus--a mysterious microbe that last year caused the sudden deaths of more than a dozen men and women in the southwest United States. Part 1, presented in the July 11, 1994, edition of The Scientist (page 14), described the effective cooperation among scientists to identify the microorganism. This article provides an account of how the research community is following up on hantavirus studies and what the prospects are for future paths of investigation.

Last year's sudden and alarming spread of a deadly microorganism known as hantavirus in the Four Corners region of the United States--where Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico meet--precipitated what some observers regard as an unprecedentedly successful collaboration among scientists from a wide variety of disciplines and organizations.

The pernicious strain of this rodent-borne virus, which has caused at least 45 deaths in the U.S. so far, was unknown to science until last May. But, ...

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