Baek L J, Yanagihara R, Gibbs C J, Miyazaki M, Gajdusek D C
Laboratory of Central Nervous System Studies, National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.
J Gen Virol. 1988 Dec;69 ( Pt 12):3129-32. doi: 10.1099/0022-1317-69-12-3129.
A hantavirus, designated Leakey virus, was isolated from a Mus musculus captured in Real County, Texas, U.S.A. in August 1986. Virus-specific fluorescence was first detected 13 days after inoculation of Vero-E6 cells with spleen tissue from the seropositive M. musculus. Ultrastructurally, the new isolate resembled other hantaviruses. Leakey virus induced a fatal meningoencephalitis in infant Fischer rats, with viral antigen detectable in brain, lung, liver, kidney and spleen. Serum dilution, plaque reduction neutralization tests indicated that Leakey virus was antigenically distinct from Hantaan, Seoul, Puumala and Prospect Hill viruses, and therefore constitutes a new serotype.
