Title : The recent outbreak of hantavirus has raised awareness in Europe - Albania is an endemic country for hemorrhagic fever, so vigilance must be high
Abstract:
A tourist trips to Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost city in the world, ended like a horror movie. The outbreak of a highly dangerous virus, such as the hantavirus, drew widespread attention across Europe. On board were 149 people of 23 different nationalities, including citizens from nine EU/EEA member states like Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Spain etc. This extensive media coverage sparked not only fear but also a desire to learn and discover more. The hantavirus is not new to us because Albania is known to be an endemic area for it. In Albania, the primary causative agent is the Dobrava-Belgrade virus (DOBV). The main reservoir in our country is the yellow-necked mouse Apodemus flavicollis. Our country offers ecological and climatic conditions that are highly conducive to the virus's circulation in nature, as they favor the presence of various rodent species that harbor hantaviruses. It is a small, mountainous country—largely defined by mountains and hills—and is rich in forests. The infection manifests in two distinct medical syndromes: Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome and Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome. These conditions are well-known among medical professionals. The first case of HFRS caused by the Dobrava virus in Albania was diagnosed in 1985, and another 31 cases were diagnosed in the two years that followed. The prestigious medical journal “The Lancet” documented the study conducted by Albanian physicians at the time. Global climate change is altering the seasonality of Dobrava virus infections, making year-round infections possible.
Conclusion. Hantaviruses are not really a new and unknown threat to Albania. They are indeed infrequent infections but they carry global risks. The best possible epidemiological knowledge as well as the identification of their endemic areas is the task of public health. Only in this way can the risk of human infection be significantly reduced.
Keywords: Hantavirus; Albania, Dobrava virus, public health.
