Hantavirus in South Africa

Overview

South Africa is in the Africa hantavirus context. There is no major endemic hantavirus strain in this curated dataset; the country may still record imported cases.

Witkowski et al. (2014) reported a ~1.0% human seroprevalence in the South African Cape region but found no molecular evidence of hantavirus in 2 500 small mammals trapped across South Africa and Namibia — i.e. evidence of past human exposure without documented circulating reservoirs. Country-specific surveillance literature is limited; we list Rattus norvegicus as a globally established host without asserting confirmed local SEOV endemicity.

Sources for the above: Witkowski et al., Virus Res 2014 (Hantaviruses in Africa, including SA seroprevalence) · Castel et al., Emerg Infect Dis 2023 (seaports & SEOV in African rats, regional context)

Reservoir species

• Rattus norvegicus

Signal trend (last 30 days)