Hantavirus in Germany

Overview

Germany is in the Europe hantavirus context. The country has documented circulation of PUUV, DOBV (Puumala virus, Dobrava-Belgrade virus).

Hantavirus disease has been notifiable in Germany since 2001; the Robert Koch Institute publishes weekly counts via SurvStat@RKI. Puumala virus drives 2–3-year outbreak cycles in southern and western Germany (Bavarian Forest, Swabian Alb), with a record ~2 800 cases in 2012; Dobrava-Belgrade circulation is documented in Apodemus reservoirs in the north and east.

Sources for the above: RKI SurvStat@RKI portal · Krüger et al., Dtsch Arztebl Int 2013 (Hantaviruses as zoonotic pathogens in Germany) · Faber et al., Eurosurveillance 2019 (PUUV / DOBV in Germany 2001–2017)

Reservoir species

• Myodes glareolus
• Apodemus flavicollis

Endemic strains

Signal trend (last 30 days)