Hantaan Virus in Macedonia

[Konstantin]

A few days ago 2 man died in a hospital in Macedonia. They were from a village called Simnica, near town Gostivar where I live.
Hantaan virus is a hemorrhagic virus.
After that few more people were diagnosed and hospitalized with the same virus. THe authorities are calming people that it cant be transmitted from human to human.
More about this here:

_http://www.mia.mk/en/Inside/RenderSingleNews/61/133795154#

 

[RedFox]

Text from the article was a bit tricky to copy/paste (had to go to Print Preview)

Skopje, 27 July 2017 (MIA) - Test results from two labs have identified the Hantaan virus as a cause
of death of a father and son from Simnica village near Gostivar, Health Minister Arben Taravari said
Thursday.
Hantaan virus infection in humans can result in hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome.
Fortunately the identified virus is of the least harmful types, namely it doesn't transfer from person to
person, but only through contact with rodent urine, saliva, or feces.
The Ministry of Health and the Commission for Infectious Diseases have been monitoring the
developments and take all necessary measures, Taravari said via video link, as he is paying a
working visit to the US.
He denied the claims that another person died of Hantaan virus infection, saying that seven patients
from Gostivar, who have been in touch with the deceased, are in good health.
Since the onset of this year, four people with Hantaan virus infection have been admitted at Skopje
Clinic for Infectious Diseases, and all of them are cured, Taravari said.
Earlier today, Deputy-Health Minister Goce Cakarovski said another three persons from the Gostivar
village of Simnica had been admitted at the Clinic for Infectious Diseases with high fever, diarrhea,
vomiting.
"Four other persons having the same symptoms are also treated at the clinic, but are not in a lifethreatening
condition", Cakarovski said.

Looks like it may be the case of poor food hygiene (or really poor hygiene, in general, to come in contact with that), so probably best to avoid all food you don't handle yourself if you are in Macedonia.

 

[Konstantin]

I guess we will have to be extra careful now when buying locally produced food. That village is just 16 Km from Gostivar where I live and it is the nearest town from that village.
Poor hygiene is one of the reasons. Another maybe is the very high temperatures that we have here this summer. The combination of a poor hygiene and high temperatures are very bad.
Let's just be aware and see if any new cases will appear. I hope not.
Iodine will probably be a good basic protection.

As soon as I read that it was some kind of hemorrhagic virus the idea of a cosmic connection and plague came to my mind.

 

[on_strike_usaexpat]

This virus is endemic here in Chile.

One precaution is when opening up houses, sheds or other spaces that have been closed up for a while is to wear breathing protection, open all windows and doors and let the space air out for a couple of days as the virus can be transmitted by air in enclosed spaces where infected rodents have setup residence.