Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina
Seoul hantavirus HFRS · Buenos Aires metropolitan area · preliminary historical
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Summary
Sero-epidemiological surveillance event rather than a clinical outbreak: studies in Buenos Aires (Cueto et al., 2008; Cantoni et al., 2003) trapped Rattus norvegicus and R. rattus across the city between 2003 and 2005 and documented Seoul virus (SEOV) seroprevalence of about 12–31% among the urban rat population. Companion human sero-surveys in marginal Buenos Aires neighborhoods detected no laboratory-confirmed human HFRS cases attributable to SEOV during the study period, despite high reservoir-host circulation. As of recent reviews, no confirmed human SEOV HFRS case has been formally documented in Argentina.
Why this matters
Documented urban SEOV circulation in synanthropic rats in temperate South America without a corresponding human disease signal. Provides a baseline for monitoring potential SEOV spillover and helps contextualize the 2017 US/Canada pet-rat SEOV outbreak.
Sources
- T2 Prevalence of hantavirus infection in wild Rattus norvegicus and R. rattus populations of Buenos Aires City, Argentina (Cueto et al.) Tropical Medicine & International Health (Wiley) · 2026-05-07
- T2 Study of Hantavirus seoul in a human and rodent population from a marginal area in Buenos Aires City Medicina (B Aires) / PubMed · 2026-05-07