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A ProMED-mail post
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
In this update:
[1] Argentina (Santa Fe)
[2] Chile (Los Rios)
[3] Chile (Araucania)
[4] USA (Montana)
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[1] Argentina (Santa Fe)
Date: Fri 29 Apr 2011
Source: Diario Victoria [in Spanish, trans. & summ, Mod.TY, edited]
Following up on another fatal victim, a young man from Granadero
Baigorria, Rosario municipal health [office]stated that the initial
tests indicate that he was infected by [a] hantavirus and not by
leptospirosis. On Tuesday [26 Apr 2011] the 28-year-old man from
Granadero Baigorria who worked as a shepherd in a wetland farm, died
after 2 agonizing days in a Rosario hospital, according to the Santa
Fe Director of Epidemiology, Julio Befani.
According to the Director's statement, the youth was taken 1st on
Tuesday [26 Apr 2011] to the Alberdi de Rosario Hospital and from
there was referred to the Clemente Alvarez [facility] where death
occurred. [Benfani] clarified [the situation] that the cause of death
has not yet been established, and that laboratory samples were sent
for testing and final classification at the Instituto Maiztegui in
Santa Fe. "We only know that he [the patient] was admitted with a
febrile syndrome compatible with [a] hantavirus or leptospirosis
[infection], but as of now we do not have [laboratory] results so we
are not sure if he died of one or the other disease."
For another case, the Director of Epidemiology of the Rosario office,
Lelio Mangiaterra, stated that the tests for a 24-year-old person from
Siete Colinas, who died last week [week of 17 Apr 2011] revealed that
the death was caused by [a] hantavirus [infection].
Mangiaterra explained that the spread of these diseases is
multicausal. "It is due to environmental conditions and the confluence
of rodents on the island [such as] the increase in the river [level],
an ecological phenomenon such as decreases in predators, or absence of
fires. It is important to note that the focus [of transmission] is not
in an urban environment."
--
Communicated by:
HealthMap Alerts vis ProMED-mail
[Several hantaviruses have been associated with human infection in
Argentina: Andes virus (western Argentina, in the long-tailed pygmy
rice rat host, _Oligoryzomys longicaudatus_); related Andes-like
viruses Hu39694 (in central Argentina; rodent host unknown);
Lechiguana (in central Argentina in the yellow pygmy rice rat _O.
flavescens_); Oran (in northwestern Argentina in _O. longicaudatus_);
and Bermejo (western Argentina in _O. flavescens_) virus. This case
may have been caused by Lechiguana virus infection, but without
laboratory confirmation, it is not possible to say with certainty.
An image of _O. flavescens_ can be accessed at
[A HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of Argentina showing the
location of Granadero Baigorria in Santa Fe province can be accessed
at
******
[2] Chile (Los Rios)
Date: Wed 27 Apr 2011
Source: EMOL [in Spanish, trans. & summ. Mod.TY edited]
A 45-year-old individual from Frutillare would be the 4th case of [a]
hantavirus [infection] registered in the Los Rios region. The
individual is currently interned in the Puerto Montt Hospital Base
according to details from Radio Bio Bio. According to reports, the
individual is stable and up to now help by mechanical respiration has
not been necessary.
Health authorities in the area are carrying out rigorous procedures
to establish the place were the infection occurred and establish if
there are other infected people.
--
Communicated by:
HealthMap Alerts via ProMED-mail
[The most likely hantavirus involved in this case and the following
one, below, is Andes virus.
An image of the long-tailed pygmy rice rat (_Oligoryzomys
longicaudatus_), the sigmodontine rodent host of Andes hantavirus, can
be seen at
The regions of Chile can be seen on the map at
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of Chile showing the Los
Lagos region can be accessed at
******
[3] Chile (Araucania)
Date: Mon 25 Apr 2011
Source: El Austral [in Spanish, trans. & summ, Mod.TY, edited]
A new victim was hit by hantavirus [infection] in La Araucania.
Saturday afternoon [23 Apr 2011] a young woman of just 19 years died
in the [Valdivia] Regional Hospital suspected of having the disease.
On Thursday [21 Apr 2011] she came to the [Temuco] regional medical
center with a serious respiratory picture, coming from a rural area in
Melipeuco. The patient was connected to a mechanical respirator and
the rapid test [for a hantavirus infection] was positive; this would
be the 4th fatal victim of the virus in La Araucania.
According to the Health SEREMI [Regional Ministerial Secretariat of
Health], Gloria Rodriguez, [later, the patient] was admitted to the
intensive care unit of the Temuco Hospital. Although the rapid test
was positive, the SERMI said that they awaited confirmation from the
Institute of Public Health [ISP], the results of which would be
available this week. "We have information that this concerns the young
woman from a rural area in Melipeuco, which would be suspicious of [a]
hantavirus [infection], but this week we sent sample to the ISP and
began visits to to the place where she had been infected and
interviewed the family.
According to the information provided by SEREMI, if the tests are
positive, this would be the 3rd fatal case due to [a] hantavirus
infection in the region just this year [2011]. However, this would be
the 4th person affected by the virus, given that one survived.
As for these infections, SERMI indicated that since we are in autumn,
it is important that the families take necessary precautions,
especially in rural areas that the long-tailed [pygmy] rat inhabits.
"Despite the fact that the disease is more frequent in summer, it is
important to also take into account the measures in this season and in
winter, above all when there are colonies of these rats [in
buildings]," she said. It is important to avoid entry of these rats,
keep houses clean, garbage in sealed, covered containers and control
rats outside of houses. Also, it is important to not camp near high
risk areas.
[Byline: Tania Marquez]
--
Communicated by:
HealthMap Alerts vis ProMED-mail
[A map showing the location of the Araucania region of Chile can be
accessed at
and Melipeuco in that region at
******
[4] USA (Montana)
Date: Mon 25 Apr 2011
Source: The Republic [edited]
Park County health officials say a 46-year-old Livingston-area woman
has died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Coroner Al Jenkins tells
the Livingston Enterprise that the woman died on 8 Apr [2011] while
she was being transported to a Billings hospital. The woman had
visited Park Clinic on 7 Apr [2011] with symptoms including a high
fever, muscle fatigue and an extreme headache. She checked into the
emergency room the next day also suffering from shortness of breath
and extreme congestion.
[Sin Nombre] hantavirus can be contracted through inhaling the
droppings or urine of deer mice [_Peromyscus maniculatus_] or touching
the droppings or urine and then touching one's eyes, nose or mouth.
--
Communicated by:
Tony Schountz, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Microbiology
School of Biological Sciences
University of Northern Colorado
501 20th Street
Greeley, CO 80639
[These types of report usually do not indicate which hantavirus is
involved. In fact, there are many, several capable of causing
hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. The virus involved in this fatal case
is most likely Sin Nombre virus.
An image of _Peromyscus maniculatus_, the rodent host of Sin Nombre
virus, can be accessed at
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of the USA showing the
location of Montana can be accessed at
[see also:
Hantavirus update 2011 - Americas (23): USA, Chile 20110422.1265
Hantavirus update 2011 - Americas (21): Chile (BI), USA (CO)
20110409.1105
Hantavirus update 2011 - Americas (08): Argentina (SA) susp.
20110228.0662
2010
----
Hantavirus update 2010 - Americas (41): Argentina (BA) 20101231.4614
Hantavirus update 2010 - Americas (40): Chile, French Guiana
20101224.4542
Hantavirus update 2010 - Americas (36): USA (CO) 20101101.3955]
.................................................jw/ty/ejp/jw
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