Clinical
Hantavirus testing is coordinated through state and local public health departments and is not a standard outpatient lab. The right specimen, the right timing, and the right reporting path matter as much as the assay itself.
Key facts
Clinicians do not order hantavirus testing the way they order a CBC. Suspected cases are coordinated through state or local public health departments, which route specimens to qualified laboratories and ensure surveillance reporting is triggered.
The exact specimen depends on timing and clinical presentation.
IgM is often detectable around the onset of HPS symptoms; IgG rises shortly after. RT-PCR is most useful early. A single negative test does not rule out hantavirus disease — repeat testing is part of the workflow when clinical suspicion is high.
HantaScan does not collapse classifications: confirmed, probable, and inconclusive are kept separate even when the same individual moves between them as results return. A change in a record's classification is itself a signal worth tracking.
Hantavirus infection is a nationally notifiable condition in the United States.
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