Abstract
From January to April 2010, 396 hantavirus infections were notified in Germany, a considerable increase compared with previous years (mean: 83 for January-April 2004-2009) including the record-setting year, 2007 (n=232 January-April). Most patients are residents of known Puumala virus endemic areas in southern Germany. The recent increase in notified hantavirus infections is probably due to an increased population density of the main animal reservoir, the bank vole (Myodes glareolus).
Highlights
European hantaviruses of the family Bunyaviridae cause haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome
The outbreak in 2005 mainly affected the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony, including increased numbers of human cases in urban areas [2,3], whereas in 2007, when a record number of hantavirus cases were recorded, most of the cases were reported from the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria [4,5]
Case numbers began to rise in the autumn of 2006, peaking at 439 infections notified in June 2007, with a total of 1,688 cases in 2007
Summary
European hantaviruses of the family Bunyaviridae cause haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome. Infection in humans occurs through inhalation of aerosolised virus particles from excreta of chronically infected wild rodents or, rarely, through rodent bites. Infection with Puumala virus – the hantavirus virus species most prevalent in northern and central Europe including Germany – leads to a relatively mild form of disease referred to as nephropathia epidemica. Puumala virus epidemics in humans occur regularly in several European countries, those in Fennoscandia, and have been linked to cyclic oscillations in the population density of the main animal reservoir, the bank vole (Myodes glareolus) [1]. In Germany, typically 150–250 cases have been notified annually since 2001. In 2005 and 2007, the annual number of cases peaked at 447 and 1,688, respectively. The outbreak in 2005 mainly affected the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony, including increased numbers of human cases in urban areas [2,3], whereas in 2007, when a record number of hantavirus cases were recorded, most of the cases were reported from the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria [4,5]
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