Outbreak history on April 15

Historical outbreak-response milestones recorded on this calendar date, drawn from WHO Disease Outbreak News, CDC archives, and primary epidemiological literature.

• 1976

  Hantavirus

  Hantaan virus isolated and named

  Karl Johnson and Ho Wang Lee announced the isolation of the etiologic agent of Korean hemorrhagic fever from striped field mice trapped near the Hantaan River in central Korea. The discovery, building on 25 years of investigation since the 1951 Korean War outbreaks, established the Bunyaviridae family member that would lend its name to the entire hantavirus genus.

Browse the full outbreak history calendar for milestones across all dates.