The SES (Santa Catarina State Secretariat) is discussing this Friday (30th) an emergency plan against hantavirus. The disease has already claimed the lives of at least four people in the state, including an 11-year-old child.

Four people died in Santa Catarina from the disease – Photo: Unsplash/Disclosure/ND

The folder explains that the actions are being discussed between the Ministry of Health and Civil Defense, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Agricultural Research and Agricultural Company, the Institute of the Environment, the Environmental Military Police, the Department of Education and the Santa Catarina Tourism Development Agency.

Measures taken during the meetings are due to be made public next week, according to the state Department of Health.

According to the SES, the incidence is higher during the “ratada” period. The phenomenon occurs with the drought of bamboo, a tree that varies, depending on the type of bamboo, from one year to one hundred years. With its help, animals leave their holes, increasing the food supply. The phenomenon is cyclical and usually occurs in rural areas of the South, Southeast and Midwest.

Cases in Santa Catarina

Santa Catarina had eight confirmed cases in 2022 in the municipalities of Agronomica, Aguas Frias, Cásador, Lontras, Mafra, Palosa, Panel and Urubici. Among the confirmed cases, four people have died.

The most popular case was the death of an 11-year-old boy. He contracted the disease after being bitten by a wild mouse in Urubici, in Serra Santa Catarina.

Other deaths have been reported in Cásador municipalities in the Midwest; Agronomic and Otters, both in Alto Vale do Itajai.

Disease

Hantavirus disease infection presents mainly as a cardiopulmonary syndrome, and initially the first symptom is a dry cough, but it can progress to fever, joint pain, abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting. In the most severe cases, a person may have difficulty breathing.

According to SES, infection occurs mainly by inhalation of aerosols or particles of urine, feces or other substances of rodents, and can also occur through bites. There is no vaccine for the disease, hence the concern of the SES in creating an action plan. There is no specific cure for this disease, usually only the symptoms are treated, and patients are monitored by medical teams.

How to prevent?

The SES indicates that precautions to be taken include sanitary measures to remove rodents, such as closing food containers, clearing the ground around, and removing existing debris near the home.