Online Reporter
Panashe Nagoli
ZBC News Online
GOVERNMENT has moved to reassure the nation that Zimbabwe has not recorded any cases of Hantavirus, urging the public to remain calm and avoid panic amid heightened health surveillance.
Briefing the media in Harare yesterday, the Minister of Health and Child Care, Douglas Mombeshora, confirmed that three health workers who had been in contact with suspected hantavirus cases arrived in the country this evening.
He said the health workers have since been placed in quarantine as a precautionary measure, in line with public health protocols.
Authorities say surveillance and monitoring systems remain on high alert, although no confirmed cases of the virus have been detected in Zimbabwe.
Below is what the World Health Organisation says about Hantavirus:
Key facts
Hantaviruses are a group of viruses carried by rodents that can cause severe disease in humans.
• People usually get infected through contact with infected rodents or their urine, droppings or saliva.
Infection with hantaviruses can cause a range of illnesses, including severe disease and death.
In the Americas, hantaviruses can cause hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS), a severe respiratory illness, with a case fatality rate up to 50 percent.
Andes virus, found in South America, is a currently known hantavirus for which limited human‑to‑human transmission among contacts has been documented.
In Europe and Asia, hantaviruses cause haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS).
According to the World Health Organization, Hantaviruses are zoonotic viruses that naturally infect rodents and are occasionally transmitted to humans. Infection in people can result in severe illness and often death, although the diseases vary by type of virus and geographical location.
In the Americas, infection has been known to lead to hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS), a rapidly progressive condition affecting the lungs and heart, while in Europe and Asia hantaviruses have been known to cause haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), which primarily affects the kidneys and blood vessels.
While there is no specific treatment that cures hantavirus diseases, early supportive medical care is key to improve survival and focuses on close clinical monitoring and management of respiratory, cardiac and kidney complications. Prevention depends largely on reducing contacts between people and infected rodents.
Hantavirus infections are relatively uncommon globally but are associated with a case fatality rate of 1–15 percent in Asia and Europe and up to 50 percent in the Americas. Worldwide, it is estimated that from 10 000 to over 100 000 infections occur each year (1, 2, 3), with the largest burden in Asia and Europe.
In East Asia, particularly China and the Republic of Korea, HFRS continues to account for many thousands of cases annually, although incidence has declined in recent decades.
In Europe, several thousand cases are reported each year, mainly from northern and central regions where Puumala virus circulates. In the Americas, HCPS is much rarer, with hundreds of cases reported each year across the continent.
The United States of America has reported fewer than 1000 cases, while South American countries such as Argentina, Brazil Chile, and Paraguay report small numbers of cases annually. Despite the lower incidence, HCPS has a high case fatality rate, commonly between 20% and 40%, making it a disease of major public health concern.
Transmission of hantaviruses to humans occurs from contact with contaminated urine, droppings or saliva of infected rodents. Infection may also occur, although less commonly, through rodent bites.
Activities that involve contact with rodents such as cleaning enclosed or poorly ventilated spaces, farming, forestry work and sleeping in rodent-infested dwellings increase exposure risk.
To date, human-to-human transmission has been documented only for Andes virus in the Americas and remains uncommon. When it occurs, transmission between people has been associated with close and prolonged contact, particularly among household members or intimate partners, and appears most likely during the early phase of illness, when the virus is more transmissible.
Symptoms and clinical presentation
In humans, symptoms usually begin between one and eight weeks after exposure, depending on the type of virus, and typically include fever, headache, muscle aches and gastrointestinal symptoms such as abdominal pain, nausea or vomiting.
In HCPS, the disease may progress rapidly to cough, shortness of breath, accumulation of fluid in the lungs and shock.
In HFRS, later stages may include low blood pressure, bleeding disorders and kidney failure.
Diagnosis
Early diagnosis of hantavirus infection can be challenging because early symptoms are common with other febrile or respiratory illnesses, such as influenza, COVID-19, viral pneumonia, leptospirosis, dengue or sepsis.
A careful patient history is therefore essential, with particular attention to possible rodent exposure, occupational and environmental risks, travel history, and contact with known cases in areas where hantaviruses are present.
Samples collected from patients are a biohazard risk; laboratory testing on non-inactivated samples should be conducted under maximum biological containment conditions. All non-inactivated biological specimens should be packaged using the triple packaging system when transported nationally and internationally.
Treatment
There is no licenced specific antiviral treatment or vaccine for hantavirus infection. Care is supportive and focuses on close clinical monitoring and management of respiratory, cardiac and kidney complications.
Early access to intensive care, when clinically indicated, improves outcomes, particularly for patients with hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome.
Prevention and control
Preventing hantavirus infection depends primarily on reducing contacts between people and rodents. Effective measures include:
• keeping homes and workplaces clean
• Sealing openings that allow rodents to enter buildings
• Storing food securely
• using safe cleaning practices in areas contaminated by rodents
• avoiding dry sweeping or vacuuming rodent droppings
• dampening of contaminated areas before cleaning
• strengthening hand hygiene practices.
During outbreaks or when cases are suspected, early identification and isolation of cases, monitoring of close contacts, and application of standard infection prevention measures are important to limit further spread.
