Hantaan virus infection in suckling mice: virologic and pathologic correlates

The Hantaan virus suckling mouse model was examined to delineate virologic and histopathologic characteristics of infection at the organ level. Viral antigen and infectious virus were detected in all organs examined, with highest titers achieved in brain, lung, and kidney. A constellation of histologic lesions was identified in brain (diffuse meningoencephalitis with bilaterally symmetrical thalamic necrosis), liver (pericholangiohepatitis), lung (pneumonitis), and spleen (lymphoid hyperplasia); this tetrad is apparently unique to this model system. The chronology of clinical, virologic, serologic, and pathologic findings in Hantaan-infected newborn mice suggests an immune-mediated mechanism in disease pathogenesis.