LITERATURE UPDATE


Hantavirus infection: a look beyond that caused by the Andes strain


The recent outbreak of hantavirus infection on a Dutch cruise ship in the Atlantic has brought this group of viral pathogens into sharp focus. Here, Pathology in Practice Science Editor Brian Nation looks at a selection of recent relevant work in the scientific literature.


Sensitive and Visualized Detection of Hantavirus Using CRISPR/Cas12a Based on AutoCORDSv2 Design He C, Zhu W, Zhang X et al. J Med Virol. 2025 Jul; 97 (7): e70460. doi: 10.1002/ jmv.70460.


In recent years, detection technologies based on the CRISPR/Cas12a method have been extensively utilised in the fields of nucleic acid, enzyme, and macromolecule detection, thereby reinforcing their significant role in the detection landscape. Enhancing the simplicity of design, efficiency, and automation of the CRISPR/ Cas12a detection system is essential for advancing its application in diagnostics. Recently, the authors developed an


automated CRISPR/Cas12a design system named AutoCORDSv2. This system can process published genomic sequences of pathogenic bacteria in a high-throughput manner and automatically generate conserved and highly specific crRNA sequences, along with primer sequences for target amplification. This capability facilitates the specific and precise design of the CRISPR/Cas12a detection system. In this study, crRNAs targeting the


Hantaan virus (HTNV) and Seoul virus (SEOV), as well as RT-PCR primers and RT-RPA primers, were designed using AutoCORDSv2. The experimental results demonstrated that the CRISPR/ Cas12a system, automatically designed by AutoCORDSv2, was specific for the detection of both HTNV and SEOV, with no cross-reactivity observed with other pathogens. The detection sensitivity reached 6 copies/μL (equivalent to 111 copies per amplification reaction),


Sin Nombre virus, the most common cause of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in North America (Transmission electron micrograph [TEM]).


case fatality rates of up to 50% in some cases. Human infections can lead to haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) or hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome depending on the viral species. Despite the morbidity and mortality associated with this family of viruses, no antiviral therapeutics or vaccines are available to treat and prevent hantavirus disease. The relative shortage of commercially available reagents to study


whether measured by a microplate reader or directly observed with the naked eye. The detection results for 50 samples


were consistent with those obtained from commercial RT-qPCR kits, indicating high precision. Furthermore, the CRISPR/ Cas12a system designed by AutoCORDSv2 can also be utilised for the development of a single-tube detection system with a sensitivity of 42 copies per reaction. This system combined with a five-minute extraction step and RT-RPA, further underscoring its potential for application.


Specific and versatile monoclonal antibodies for hantavirus research LaPointe A, Martinez K, Shou C, Manuelyan I, Boten J, Kell AM. mSphere. 2025 Dec 23; 10 (12): e0061225. doi: 10.1128/msphere.00612-25.


Rodent-borne hantaviruses pose a continual public health threat to humans through zoonotic transmission, with


52 WWW.PATHOLOGYINPRACTICE.COM June 2026


hantavirus infections in vitro and in vivo likely contributes to the challenges in developing viral countermeasures. This report describes the generation of a panel of mouse monoclonal antibodies that collectively recognise the four viral proteins of Seoul virus (SEOV, Orthohantavirus seoulense), an Old World (OW) hantavirus with worldwide distribution, and the causative agent of HFRS. The authors have validated the specificity and versatility of these antibodies against a subset of OW and New World hantaviruses in assays relying on antigen recognition in denatured or native conformations. They present several antibodies that specifically recognise the SEOV nucleoprotein and polymerase protein in Western bloting and immunostaining assays. They also identified three novel antibodies directed against the glycoprotein complex that are capable of binding to the N-terminal glycoprotein of all hantaviruses tested.


CDC/Cynthia Goldsmith, Luanne Elliot Public domain Wikimedia Commons


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