Venezuela's Health Ministry confirmed on Tuesday that three people died from hantavirus infections, stressing there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission in the country. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Associated Press.
The ministry also said hantavirus was suspected in the deaths of two health workers in the southwestern state of Barinas. Those cases remain under investigation and were not linked to the three fatalities in the eastern state of Anzoátegui, about 655 kilometers away.
The ministry described the deaths in Anzoátegui and Barinas as isolated incidents that "do not represent a risk to the general community." But it added that health workers would be sent to the affected states to guarantee health security.
The Venezuelan Medical Federation said the deaths in Anzoátegui were from the same family in the rural municipality of Miranda in the south of the state.
Hantaviruses exist worldwide and are spread mainly by contact with rodents. Human-to-human transmission is rare. In severe cases, the virus can cause deadly lung infection or kidney failure.
A recent deadly outbreak aboard a cruise ship in the Atlantic showed that some hantaviruses can spread between people in rare cases. The Andes hantavirus, detected in the outbreak that killed three passengers on the MV Hondius in May, raised concerns due to its mortality rate of up to 30% and lack of treatment and vaccines.
In Argentina, authorities are still trying to determine the origin of the outbreak. An early hypothesis suggested that patient zero, a Dutch ornithologist, may have become infected in Ushuaia. But Argentine scientists recently ruled out Ushuaia as the source after testing rats. Argentina also concluded that the province of Mendoza was not the source of contagion.