Azerbaijan's health ministry comments on hantavirus reports

In connection with the appearance in the international information space of reports about infections with hantavirus, the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Azerbaijan states that the epidemiological situation in the country is stable and there are no grounds for concern.

This is reported by 1news.az with reference to a statement from the press service of the Ministry of Health.

According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), the organization coordinates preventive measures and rapid response measures with various countries within the framework of the International Health Regulations. It is noted that hantavirus infection in humans most often occurs through contact with urine, feces or saliva of rodents that are carriers of the virus, as well as through inhalation of dust contaminated with their secretions. Transmission of the virus from person to person is extremely rare and has only been recorded in the case of the Andes strain, common in the Americas.

Azerbaijan is not an endemic zone for hantavirus, and the virus has not been detected among rodents living in the country. For this reason, hantavirus infection is not included in routine laboratory testing panels. At the same time, the country has all the technical capabilities to conduct appropriate tests in both medical and veterinary laboratories. The Ministry of Health is guided by WHO recommendations and maintains close cooperation with the organization. If necessary (for example, in the presence of clinical symptoms and epidemiological risks in persons arriving from countries where the disease has been registered), examinations will be conducted in accordance with clinical protocols.

The Ministry of Health, continuing to monitor the epidemiological situation, calls on the population to rely exclusively on official sources of information — at present the situation does not pose an additional risk to the country's population.