https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/09/americas/hantavirus-cases-double-argentina-climate-change-latam-intl
Buenos Aires, Argentina — Hantavirus cases in Argentina have almost doubled in the past year, with the country recording 32 deaths alongside its highest number of infections since 2018.
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Experts blame climate change and habitat destruction for the rise in cases of the disease, which is usually caused by exposure to the urine or feces of infected rodents.
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Climate to blame?
Hantavirus in Argentina usually develops in rural and peri-urban areas, in the presence of crops, tall weeds, humidity, or a subtropical climate.
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But experts believe environmental degradation caused by climate change and human activity is contributing to its spread by allowing the rodents that transmit the virus to thrive in new areas.
“Increasing human interaction with wild environments, habitat destruction, the establishment of small urbanizations in rural areas, and the effects of climate change contribute to the appearance of cases outside historically endemic areas,” the ministry said.
Extreme weather phenomena, such as droughts and episodes of intense rainfall in recent years, are also fueling the trend, according to experts.
Temperature rises generate changes in the ecosystem that affect the presence of the long-tailed mouse, the main carrier of the virus in Argentina and Chile.
“These rodents are better able to adapt to climate changes, which could facilitate the higher number of cases we are seeing,” explained Eduardo López, an infectious disease specialist and adviser to the Argentine government during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Forest fires have prompted both humans and wildlife to move to new places, increasing the risk, said Roberto Debbag, vice president of the Latin American Society of Vaccinology, while tourism trends have also had an effect.
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CNN: “The country where lethal hantavirus cases are on the rise. Experts blame climate change”
“Experts blame climate change and habitat destruction for the rise in cases of the disease…”
Having flashbacks to the early days of COVID when the “experts” said that COVID was not… pic.twitter.com/gCDthIhYwB
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) May 9, 2026
