A man in the Lviv region tested positive for hantavirus after a trip to Croatia
A case of hantavirus infection has been confirmed in Lviv Oblast in a 53-year-old resident of Stryi. The man had recently been on vacation in Croatia and had traveled through the mountains of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast; however, the exact location and circumstances of his infection have not yet been determined.
A case of hantavirus infection has been laboratory-confirmed in Lviv Oblast. A 53-year-old resident of Stryi has been diagnosed with hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome caused by the hantavirus, according to the Lviv Regional Center for Public Health.
The illness, as noted, began on July 12 with a rise in body temperature to 38.6 °C, chills, headache, nausea, loss of appetite, and pain in the calf muscles.
On July 15, the man sought treatment at the Lviv Regional Infectious Diseases Clinical Hospital, where he was admitted with a preliminary diagnosis of “unspecified bacterial infection.”
Biological samples were tested by the Laboratory for Highly Dangerous Infections at the State Institution “Lviv Regional Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.”
According to the laboratory test results: no antibodies to Leptospira interrogans (leptospirosis) were detected in the blood serum; Leptospira interrogans (leptospirosis) DNA was not detected in the urine; and RNA of the hantavirus was detected in the blood serum via PCR, as stated in the report.
As noted, “during the epidemiological investigation, it was established that from July 1 to July 7, the man was on vacation in Croatia, on the Makarska Riviera, where he swam in the Adriatic Sea. He traveled in his own car."
"On July 11, the man was traveling through the mountainous regions of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. On his way home, he stopped in the village of Kamianka in Stryi District, where he washed his hands in the Kamianka River," the statement notes.
At the same time, it is reported that “the patient denies having had contact with rodents, their nests, or their excretions; being in basements; or consuming food or water that could have been contaminated by rodent excretions.”
At this time, the specific location and circumstances of the infection have not been determined. Swimming in the sea and washing hands in the river are noted as part of the epidemiological history but are not confirmed as the route of infection, the Center for Public Health stated.
Anti-epidemic and preventive measures are being carried out at the patient’s place of residence, as indicated. The epidemiological investigation is ongoing.
This was reported by the Lviv Regional Center for Disease Control and Prevention on July 23.
Hantavirus Outbreak: Experts Assess Risks of a Global Pandemic.
Five Ukrainian citizens are among the crew members of the MV Hondius, where an outbreak of hantavirus was recorded. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that no signs of a deterioration in their health have been detected so far.
The disease, which claimed the lives of three passengers aboard the MV Hondius—a vessel operated by the Dutch company Oceanwide Expeditions—may have been introduced by Argentine rats or mice.
