The deadly Hantavirus virus has sneaked into Kerala, the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) in Thiruvananthapuram has confirmed. The first death of a Keralite due to Hantavirus was reported from the Medical College Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram.

Madhu (43), a rubber tapping worker from Palode, Thiruvananthapuram, had died at the Medical College Hospital on January 14. But confirmation of the cause of death – Hantavirus – came out only the other day after detailed analysis of samples taken from his body at the RGCB. The Health Dept informed that it had started taking preventive measures.

The deadly RNA virus had been found in October, 2012 in an engineering student from Nagarcoil, Tamil Nadu who had died at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram in September that year. Health experts aired the opinion that the virus could have entered Kerala from Tamil Nadu where its presence had been established long ago.

Hantavirus infection in humans is almost entirely due to contact with excrements of rodents like rats but human-to-human infection has also been reported rarely. As the virus can be transmitted by rodent saliva, excreta and bites, control of rats and mice in areas frequented by humans is said to be the best preventive measure.

Doctors say that Hantaviruses can sometimes cause fatal diseases like hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome and Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.

The name Hantavirus is derived from the Hantan River area of South Korea and it was first isolated in late 1970s.