Venezuela Reports Three Confirmed Hantavirus Deaths, Two More Under Investigation

Venezuelan health authorities confirmed Tuesday that three people have died from hantavirus infections, while simultaneously reassuring the public that no evidence suggests the virus is spreading between people in the country. The deaths occurred in Anzoátegui, an eastern state approximately 407 miles from the southwestern region of Barinas, where two additional hantavirus-related deaths among health workers are currently being investigated.

The Health Ministry characterized both clusters as isolated cases that do not pose a threat to the broader Venezuelan population. Officials announced plans to deploy health workers to the affected regions to ensure public safety, though they provided no additional specifics about the response measures. Both Anzoátegui and Barinas escaped significant damage from a pair of powerful earthquakes that struck northern Venezuela earlier this month.

According to Venezuela’s Medical Federation, the confirmed deaths in Anzoátegui involved members of the same family living in the rural Miranda municipality. Hantaviruses, which spread primarily through contact with infected rodents like rats and mice, rarely transmit between humans, though the virus can cause fatal lung infections or kidney failure in severe cases.

The Venezuelan situation comes months after a May outbreak aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius killed three passengers and infected others with the Andes hantavirus variant, which carries mortality rates as high as 30%. Argentine authorities continue investigating the outbreak’s origin, having ruled out both Ushuaia and the wine region of Mendoza after testing conducted with CDC scientists found no hantavirus traces in local rodent populations.