Sin Nombre virus (SNV) is the most common cause of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in North America.

In its natural reservoir, SNV causes an asymptomatic, persistent infection and is spread through excretions, fighting, and grooming.

In humans, infection leads to HPS, an illness characterized by an early phase of mild and moderate symptoms such as fever, headache, and fatigue, followed by sudden respiratory failure.

Genome segments are encased in nucleoproteins to form ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes that are surrounded by a viral envelope that contains spikes emanating from its surface.

This outbreak was historically significant since it marked the first time that pathogenic hantaviruses were discovered in the Americas as well as the discovery of HPS.

The genome of Sin Nombre virus is about 12.3 thousand nucleotides in length and segmented into three negative-sense, single-stranded RNA (-ssRNA) strands.

[3] The small segment, about 2.06 kilobases (kb) in length, encodes the viral nucleoprotein and a non-structural protein that inhibits interferon production.

The medium segment, about 3.7 kb in length, encodes a glycoprotein precursor that is cleaved into the two spike proteins Gn and Gc during virion assembly.

The large segment, about 6.56 kb in length, encodes the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), which is responsible for transcribing and replicating the genome.

The Eastern deer mouse is found throughout southern Canada, the continental United States except Alaska and most of the Atlantic coastal plain, and in Mexico throughout the central part of the country and in the Baja California peninsula.

Antibodies to Sin Nombre virus have been detected in cats and dogs, but the role of these animals as hosts is unknown.

early, symptoms last for a few days and include fever, muscle pain, headache, coughing, nausea, vomiting, chills, and dizziness.

[10] SNV infection is diagnosed based on observation of symptoms and testing for hantavirus nucleic acid, proteins, or hantavirus-specific antibodies.

[13][14] This taxonomy is shown as follows hereafter:[2][3][13][14] In 1993, an outbreak of highly lethal acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) occurred in the Four Corners region of the United States.

[4][18] In 2012, a small outbreak occurred at Yosemite National Park in California and claimed the lives of three tourists out of ten infected.