landmarkvirology1978
Discovery of Hantaan Virus
First isolation of a hantavirus from the lungs of striped field mice near the Hantan River in South Korea.
Dr. Ho Wang Lee spent over 20 years searching for the causative agent of Korean Hemorrhagic Fever, which had affected thousands of UN soldiers during the Korean War. Using a novel cell culture technique with Vero-E6 cells, he finally isolated the virus in 1976 from the lungs of Apodemus agrarius mice captured near the Hantan River. This discovery opened the entire field of hantavirology and earned Dr. Lee nominations for the Nobel Prize.
Dr. Ho Wang Lee, Dr. Lee Pyung Woo — Korea University, Seoul