What precautions can be taken to prevent hantavirus and rabies virus transmission to humans?
Hantavirus belongs to the family of viruses called Bunyaviruses. They are enveloped viruses and contain three single-stranded RNA segments which are represented as S (small), M (medium) and L (large). The nucleocapsid is encoded by the S RNA. The M RNA encodes for a protein that is cleaved to yield two glycoproteins namely the G1 and G2. The L protein which acts as the viral transcriptase is encoded by the L RNA. Hantaviruses are responsible to cause Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) which is characterized by lung congestion, edema in the lungs, and shortness of breath. They also cause Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) as the disease condition progresses. Rabies virus belongs to the genus called Lyssavirus of the family Rhabdoviridae. It is a negative-sense RNA virus. They are enveloped viruses in which the RNA is wrapped around the viral nucleoprotein. The rabies virus is bullet-shaped and has helical symmetry. The genome of the rabies virus encodes for nucleoprotein (N), phosphoprotein (P), matrix protein (M), glycoprotein (G) and polymerase (L). The infection with the rabies virus spreads to the central nervous system where the virus multiplies and cause inflammation of the brain and the spinal cord causing death.
Step by step
Solved in 2 steps
