HANTAVIRUS UPDATE 2010 - AMERICAS AND EUROPE
Date: Thu 25 Feb 2010
Source: Telemetro.com [in Spanish, trans.
Mod. TY, edited] <http://www.telemetro.com/noticias/2010/02/25/nota47979.html>
A 41 year old woman continues in the
intensive care unit of the Regional Hospital
Dr Joaquin Pablo Franco Sayas, with a
clinical picture positive for [a] hantavirus
[infection], according to physicians'
examinations. The patient was transferred as
an emergency from the Valle Rico community
in Las Tablas, Los Santos province. She is
the 2nd case of hantavirus [infection] in
Los Santos and the 3rd in the Azuero [Peninsula].
Up to now, a hantavirus death has been
reported, involving a 39 year old man who
lived in Herrera province but worked in
Santo Domingo de Las Tablas.
The authorities maintain a surveillance
operation in Valle Rico, where the patient
comes from.
HANTAVIRUS UPDATE 2010 - EUROPE: GERMANY
(BADEN-WUERTTEMBERG)
Date: Wed 24 Feb 2010
Source: RP Online (RPO), Deutscher
Depeschendienst (DDP) report [in German,
machine trans., edited] <http://www.rp-online.de/panorama/deutschland/Hantaviren-Epidemie-in-Baden-Wuerttemberg_aid_824308.html>
A dangerous hantavirus is spreading in
Baden-Wurttemberg. Since the
beginning of the year [2010], 85 cases have
been reported in the
administrative district of Stuttgart, the
regional council announced on
Wednesday [24 Feb 2010].
The number is unusually high for the season
and exceeded the previous
record year of 2007 with 41 cases in the
same period, it said. This leaves
an expectation of high infection levels in
the coming months. The [number
of] cases have been piling up since December
[2009].
According to [health] information,
hantavirus disease [in this part of
Europe] manifests itself usually in the form
of a common cold with sudden
onset and high fever. In addition, [infected
individuals] have head and
body aches and abdominal pain. The illness
lasts about 3 weeks and more
than half of those affected are hospitalized.
Some patients develop kidney
failure. A vaccine does not exist.
Hantaviruses are [maintained in] wild
rodents that spread the virus
primarily through faeces and urine. Humans
usually become infected by
inhaling dust [with excreta having the]
pathogen. [The red-backed vole,
_Myodes] glareolus_, whose principal food is
beechnuts, is the main reservoir.
Regions with a high prevalence are Swabian
Alb and Schoenbuch, which are
the most affected. The current incidence is
probably due to a particularly
high population of red-backed voles.