Venezuela has confirmed three deaths linked to hantavirus in the eastern state of Anzoátegui, while health authorities are investigating two additional fatalities involving healthcare workers in Barinas, as a leading medical association warns the country’s outbreak may be more serious than official figures suggest.
The Health Ministry said Tuesday that the two deaths under investigation in Barinas are unrelated to the confirmed cases in Anzoátegui and described both incidents as localized events that do not pose a broader public health threat, News.Az reports, citing Anadolu Agency.
According to the ministry, the three confirmed patients developed severe respiratory complications, including extensive lung damage and pleural effusion, before dying in hospital.
Health officials said hantavirus is primarily transmitted by rodents in rural and agricultural areas through exposure to airborne particles from infected rodents’ urine, feces or saliva in enclosed spaces. They added there is no scientific evidence of person-to-person transmission of the virus in Venezuela.
Following the confirmed cases, authorities established an epidemiological containment zone in Anzoátegui to trace potential contacts and strengthen disease surveillance.
Hantaviruses are a family of rodent-borne viruses that can cause severe respiratory or hemorrhagic illnesses in humans. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 10,000 to 100,000 human infections occur worldwide each year, with disease severity varying by viral strain. Human-to-human transmission is extremely rare and has only been confirmed with the Andes virus under specific conditions.
However, the Venezuelan Medical Federation (FMV) has challenged the government’s assessment, arguing that the epidemiological situation is more severe than official reports indicate.
The organization said patients in affected areas are presenting with high fever, internal bleeding and acute respiratory failure, and criticized authorities for what it described as a lack of transparency. The federation called for broader investigations and more detailed public reporting on the outbreak.
The reported cases come as Venezuela’s healthcare system continues to face significant challenges after years of economic crisis, including deteriorating hospital infrastructure, shortages of medicines and diagnostic equipment, and the migration of thousands of healthcare professionals, factors that experts say could complicate the country’s response to infectious disease outbreaks.