Hantavirus infection as a risk for chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu) in Sri Lanka

Chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu) has emerged in endemic areas of Sri Lanka since the 1990s. The disease is a chronic but fatal disease. Until now, heavy metals and agrochemicals have been suspected as the cause of CKDu, but it has been still unknown. Recently, we have found a high seroprevalence to hantavirus in CKDu patients and reported that hantavirus infection is a risk of CKDu. Hantaviruses are rodent-borne zoonotic viruses. Here, I would like to introduce a story of the research from sero-epidemiology to the search for host animals.