Staff members prepare for the cleaning of the cruise ship MV Hondius after its arrival in the Port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in May. Several passengers on the Hondius were infected with the hantavirus. Three people on board died. File Photo by Jeffrey Groeneweg/EPA
SANTIAGO, Chile, July 30 (UPI) -- Chile's Health Ministry has issued its first-ever preventive health alert for hantavirus across 13 of the country's 16 administrative regions to strengthen the healthcare system's response to the disease's rising fatality rate and the simultaneous presence of other health risks, including dengue, yellow fever and avian influenza.
As of last week, authorities had recorded 46 infections and 18 deaths, representing a fatality rate of 39%. The figures contrast with 2025, when 44 infections and eight deaths were reported, equivalent to an 18% fatality rate.
"Hantavirus causes a disease that is endemic to Chile and is transmitted by the long-tailed pygmy rice rat, which lives in rural and semi-rural areas across most of the country," Deputy Health Minister for Public Health Dr. Alejandra Pizarro said.
She said the ministry is continuously monitoring the virus' behavior and the progression of the disease, emphasizing that it is not currently considered an epidemic.
