The International Society of Hantaviruses (ISH) is a chartered organization with an international Governing Committee, and an elected President, Vice President and Secretary. The ISH and all involved in the program organization are volunteers. Since the first ISH conference convened in 1989, in Seoul, Korea, the primary function of the ISH is to organize an international conference every three years, which rotates in location to include all areas of the world with hantavirus diseases. In 2016, this conference will be held in the University Center for the Arts, CSU, Fort Collins, Colorado, which can accommodate about 500 participants. The primary objectives of the X International Conference on Hemorrhagic Fever With Renal Syndrome (HFRS), Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) and Hantaviruses are to: (1) Provide current state-of the art research findings on all aspects of hantaviruses and the diseases that they cause globally; (2) Commemorate pioneers in the field of hantavirology; (3) Introduce new investigators to hantaviruses, HFRS, and HPS; and, (4) Provide a forum for informal exchange of ideas and building of collaborative relationships among hantavirologists. The continuation of ISH and the organization of these conferences are amazing achievements, in that the ISH receives no official funding and members pay no dues. Thus, the ISH exists solely because of a shared enthusiasm for research on hantaviruses and the diseases that they cause. The costs of hosting the meeting are covered by registration fees, contributions from sponsored booths, and individual charitable contributions. The ISH strives to keep meeting costs low and hence enable individuals from poorer countries who could not otherwise attend. To do so requires financial support from grants and donations. Support is requested to increase participation of minorities, reduce registration fees for graduate students and post-doctoral fellows, and offset costs for travel and/or housing for invited international speakers.
Infection of humans by hantaviruses can cause two different highly lethal diseases depending of the rodent reservoir: hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in the Old World and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in the New World. The International Society of Hantaviruses (ISH) organizes an international conference every three years to provide a forum for scientific exchange of information on new developments for diagnosis, prevention and treatment of hantaviruses and they diseases that they cause. Moreover, these conferences have provided a forum for a synergistic group of clinicians, basic researchers, mammalogists, epidemiologists and ecologists to share their expertise and interests in all aspects of hantavirus research from across the globe.
| Papa, Anna; Vaheri, Antti; LeDuc, James W et al. (2016) Meeting report: Tenth International Conference on Hantaviruses. Antiviral Res 133:234-41 |
