One 46 year old manresident of Carmo do Paranaíba, was the first hantavirus victim in Brazil in 2026. The death occurred in February and the cause was confirmed by the State Department of Health of Minas Gerais (SES-MG). According to the folder, the patient had a history of contact with wild rodents on a farm.
According to the secretariat, the case is isolated and unrelated to other records of the disease. , capable of being transmitted between people and associated with, in which the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed seven cases.
“SES-MG also clarifies that a second registration attributed to the State was not confirmed. The Secretariat has already requested the Ministry of Health to correct the information in the official systems”, informed the department in a note sent to Pulsa.
In 2025, Minas Gerais recorded four confirmed cases of hantavirus, with two deaths. In 2024, there were seven cases and four deaths, according to the ministry. In Brazil, 35 cases and 15 deaths were confirmed in 2025according to the Ministry of Health. This year, As of April 27, the country had seven confirmed cases in Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná and Minas Gerais.
Paraná
In Paraná, two records of the disease were confirmed in 2026. One of them occurred in the city of Pérola d’Oeste, involving a 34-year-old man diagnosed in April. The other was in Ponta Grossa, in a 28-year-old woman, confirmed in February. Furthermore, another 11 cases remain under investigation in the State.
The Paraná State Department of Health reported that the registered cases also involve variants of the hantavirus that have no relation to the ship’s outbreak and reiterated that there is no circulation of the Andes strain in Paraná.
The agency stated that it maintains permanent monitoring of the circulation of the virus, including active surveillance of wild rodents in rural areas where there is confirmation of human cases, and the disease remains under control in the State.
What is hantavirus?
Hantavirus is a disease transmitted mainly by inhalation of particles present in the urine, feces and saliva of wild rodents infected with hantavirus.
It was first identified in Brazil in 1993. Since then, the country registered 2,412 casesoften associated with agricultural activities and contact with environments infested by rodents, and 926 deaths.
Currently, there are at least nine variants of the virus circulating in Brazil, but none of them present person-to-person transmission.
The disease manifests itself mainly in the form of hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome. Symptoms include fever, body aches, headache, lower back and abdominal pain. In more serious cases, shortness of breath, accelerated breathing, drop in blood pressure, increased heart rate and dry cough may occur
There is no specific treatment, and care is based on supportive measures, according to the severity of the clinical condition.
Care
As safety measures against the disease, health authorities recommend:
- Store food in closed containers protected from rodents;
- Keep land clean, avoiding accumulation of rubbish;
- Carry out the correct disposal of rubble;
- Do not leave animal food exposed;
- Keep plantations away from residences.
