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Albanian doctor: Hantavirus is not a new threat, the risk is often exaggerated

Politiko 2026-05-12 09:59:53

Albanian doctor: Hantavirus is not a new threat, the risk is often exaggerated

Doctor Aurora Dollenberg has stated that hantavirus is being treated with excessive media hype, emphasizing that it is not a new virus nor a high-risk problem at the population level.

In an interview with Syri TV, the doctor, who lives and works in Germany, said that in the vast majority of cases, hantavirus infection appears with mild symptoms or no symptoms at all, while cases with complications are not the norm.

The doctor recalled that reported cases of hantavirus have existed in Albania before, especially in the northern and forested areas of the country.

"Fortunately, there is no sign of a pandemic. I am personally quite irritated that hantavirus is being talked about so much at a time when it is not even a new virus, it is not as dangerous a problem as is being reported in the media. So, there are always cases of complications, but these are not standard. 99% of the patients who have seen it, have tested positive for hantavirus on the ship have had mild symptoms or no symptoms at all.

"As you can imagine, it is a common virus, as a normal reservoir in rats and the contact that humans have with rats is always limited, only to certain professions such as farmers, ranchers, those who work in forestry. Even in Albania in our past we have had reported cases of hantavirus in the northern part of Albania in the forests," said Dollenberg.

According to her, the risk increases mainly in poor hygienic and sanitary conditions, such as garbage collection, the presence of rats and the lack of regular urban cleaning.

"Staying away from pollution, from rats would be the simplest thing. What each of us can actually imagine is that wherever we have an overpopulation of rats, with sewage canals, we have waste that is not removed every day as foreseen by the city municipality, but stays there for several days longer, we definitely have a risk of infections," the doctor continued.

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