Hantavirus
When 3,000 troops of the US Army come down with a very virulent hemorrhagic fever during the Korean War, officials feared it was a deadly biological weapon. They never found any evidence to sustain that idea, but they did find a family of diseases known as “Bunyaviridae.”
Hantavirus is the colloquial term for Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome, a disease with a mortality rate of approximately 50%. Despite the lack of vaccination, USAMRIID’s researchers found an essential receptor that could eventually lead to a treatment.
Hantaviruses’ inherent features pose a real threat that can be utilized by both unconventional and conventional forces.
