Identification of Hantavirus serotypes by testing of post-infection sera in immunofluorescence and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.

Serum samples were collected from 27 individuals who had been infected with a member of the genus Hantavirus in the Netherlands or Belgium during the last 15 years. These samples were tested in an immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and two enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) systems, using different virus strains that represented each of the four recently proposed serotypes of this genus. The serum samples from 11 individuals who had been infected through contacts with laboratory rats showed the highest reactivities with Hantaan virus (serotype I) and SR-11 (serotype II) in the IFA and ELISA systems. The samples of 16 individuals who had probably been infected through contacts with wild rodents showed the highest reactivities with Hällnäs virus (serotype III) in the IFA. All except two of these also showed the highest reactivity with Hällnäs virus in the two different ELISA systems.