Human Nanobides as Hantavirus Countermeasures

The Old world hantaviruses found throughout Asia are the causative agents of hemorrhagic

fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). Of particular concern are infections with Hantaan virus

(HTNV) that causes the most severe form of HFRS, reaching mortality rates of 15%. There

are currently no FDA approved treatment options for hantavirus infections and disease for

use in the USA or Europe. As a result, the development of novel antibody-based medical

countermeasures for treatment and prevention of HTNV infection is critical and of high

priority.

To develop these urgent countermeasures, we at Uniformed Services University

have established a productive collaboration with Drs. Thomas Geisbert and Robert Cross

at the University of Texas Medical Branch and the Galveston National Laboratory, and Dr.

Jianliang Xu at the Vaccine Research Center at NIAID. With our groups varied expertise, we

aim to explore a completely new and novel aspect of hantavirus countermeasure

development.