ABSTRACT
Hantaviruses are rodent-borne bunyaviruses transmitted from the rodents. Today numerous rodent species are carrying hantaviruses throughout the world. These group of viruses can cause one of two types of viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) in human beings namely hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). In the spring of 1993, an unknown group of hantaviruses emerged in the United States as the cause of an acute respiratory disease currently termed as Hantavirus pulmonary symdrome (HPS), also referred to as hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS). HPS is characterized by an acute onset of headache, fever, hypovolemic hypotension, myalgia and respiratory failure. This review covers the distribution, virology, epidemiology, pathophysiology, symptoms, treatment and prevention of hantavirus causing HPS/HCPS.