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Public health expert, Erion Dasho, spoke about hantavirus, which has recently regained the attention of international health authorities.
Dasho said that in Albania cases are sporadic, but the variants circulating in the region are considered more aggressive and with a higher mortality rate compared to some other European countries.
According to him, hantaviruses are a large family of viruses that are transmitted mainly from rodents to humans.
"This is not something new, it has been observed for more than 10 years in Chile and Argentina, where patients have also infected doctors who have not respected protective measures. Hantaviruses are a large family of viruses with various clinical consequences in humans," Dasho declared.
He explained that the hantavirus known as "Andean", which has been circulating in South America, also has the ability to be transmitted from person to person.
"The hantavirus in question is known as Andean because it has circulated freely in South America. The characteristic of hantaviruses is that they can be transmitted from rodents to humans. Andean hantavirus also has the possibility of being transmitted from human to human. This is not something new, it has been detected for more than 10 years in Chile and Argentina, the areas where it circulates. Patients have infected doctors who have provided care without respecting the measures," he told "News 24".
The expert emphasized that in Albania cases are rare and can be counted on the "fingers of a hand", while recalling that there was also an outbreak in the 1980s.
"Cases in Albania are sporadic, they can be counted on the fingers of one hand. There was an outbreak in the 1980s, but they are currently very rare. Most cases pass as a common virus," said Dasho.
However, he warned that in cases where complications arise, the variants circulating in the Balkans could prove more dangerous.
"But in cases with complications, the variants transmitted in Albania are aggressive and have a higher mortality rate compared to the hantaviruses that are in Germany or other countries. The bad luck of the Balkans is that the hantavirus that affects small field mice, which have a yellow mark on their neck and are also known as the yellow field mouse, becomes a carrier of the Belgrade hantavirus and has a high mortality rate when complicated with pulmonary complications," he stated.
Dasho also explained the main modes of transmission of the virus, emphasizing that contact with rodent feces and urine remains the main risk.
"This virus has affected Albania, it has been active for several decades. It only depends on whether citizens have contact with rat feces and urine. When they are not cleaned and dried, they then turn into dust and the particles can be taken in through the respiratory tract. Other variants are from rodent bites or when their feces contaminate food," concluded Dasho.
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