Lee H W, Lee P W, Johnson K M
J Infect Dis. 1978 Mar;137(3):298-308. doi: 10.1093/infdis/137.3.298.
Lung tissues from 73 rodents (Apodemus agrarius coreae) gave specific immunofluorescent reactions when they reacted with sera from patients convalescing from Korean hemorrhagic fever. Similar staaining was observed in the lungs of A. agrarius inoculated with acute-phase sera obtained from two patients with this disease. The unidentified agent was successfully propagated in adult A. agrarius through eight passages representing a cumulative dilution of greater than 10(-17). Experimentally inoculated rodents developed specific fluorescent antigen in the lung, kidney, liver, parotid glands, and bladder. Organs, especially lungs, were positive beginning 10 days and continuing through 69 days after inoculation. The agent could not be cultivated in several types of cell cultures nor in laboratory animals. No fluorescence was observed when infected A. agrarius lung tissues were reacted with antisera to Marburg virus, Ebola virus, and serval arenaviruses. Diagnostic increases in immunofluorescent antibodies occurred in 113 of 116 severe and 11 of 34 milder cases of clinically suspected Korean hemorrhagic fever. Antibodies were present during the first week of symptoms, reached a peak at the end of the second week, and persisted for up to 14 years. Convalescent-phase sera from four persons suffering a similar disease in the Soviet Union were also positive for antibodies.
73只黑线姬鼠的肺组织与朝鲜出血热恢复期患者的血清反应时，呈现出特异性免疫荧光反应。用两名患此病患者的急性期血清接种黑线姬鼠，在其肺中也观察到类似的染色情况。这种未鉴定的病原体在成年黑线姬鼠中成功传代8次，累积稀释度大于10^(-17)。经实验接种的啮齿动物在肺、肾、肝、腮腺和膀胱中产生了特异性荧光抗原。接种后10天开始，直至69天，各器官尤其是肺呈阳性。该病原体无法在几种类型的细胞培养物中或实验动物中培养。当感染的黑线姬鼠肺组织与抗马尔堡病毒、埃博拉病毒及几种沙粒病毒的抗血清反应时，未观察到荧光。在116例临床疑似朝鲜出血热的重症病例中的113例以及34例轻症病例中的11例，免疫荧光抗体出现了诊断性升高。症状出现的第一周即可检测到抗体，在第二周结束时达到峰值，并可持续长达14年。来自苏联4名患类似疾病患者的恢复期血清抗体也呈阳性。
