Hantavirus outbreak toolbox
Updated | May 2026
Welcome to the Hantavirus Outbreak toolbox
Key reference documents
- Hantavirus in the Americas: guidelines for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and control (PAHO, 1999) (EN, ES)
- Hantavirus (United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USCDC, 2024)
- Hantavirus case definition and reporting (USCDC, 2025)
Case definitions
WHO suggested outbreak case definition
- A person who presents with a febrile illness (Fever > 38.5 °C [103 °F] oral) with an acute respiratory distress syndrome requiring supplemental oxygen AND bilateral diffuse infiltrates developed within 72 hours of hospitalization in a previously healthy person
- Unexplained illness resulting in death plus an autopsy examination demonstrating noncardiogenic pulmonary oedema without an identifiable specific cause of death
A suspected case laboratory confirmed with:
- The presence of hantavirus-specific IgM antibodies or a 4-fold or greater increase in IgG antibody titres or hantavirus-specific IgG seroconversion.
- A positive reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) results for hantavirus RNA.
- Positive immunohistochemical results for hantavirus antigens.
Data collection tools
- Formulario De Notificacion Inmediata Y Envio De Muestras Para Casos Sospechosos De Infección Por Hantavirus (Ministerio De Saude Publica, Chile, 2015).
- Line list: Not available.
- Electronic tools: Not available.
Laboratory confirmation
- Clinician brief: Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) - Testing and diagnosis (USCDC, 2024)
- Clinician brief: Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome - Testing and diagnosis (USCDC, 2024)
- Laboratory Management of Agents Associated with Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome: Interim Biosafety Guidelines (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, USCDC, 2001)
Response tools and resources
- Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome (HFRS) (USCDC, 2017).
Training
- Not available
