Germany
Puumala hantavirus HFRS · Germany, nationwide (Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, NRW foci) · verified historical
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Summary
Record Puumala virus epidemic year in Germany with 2,017 laboratory-confirmed PUUV cases reported to the Robert Koch Institute — at the time the largest annual German hantavirus total on record. Notification incidence rose from 0.09/100,000 in 2001 (when surveillance began) to 2.47/100,000 in 2010. Schlegel et al. (EID 2012) characterized the year as 'multiple synchronous outbreaks,' with at least six distinct PUUV clades driving cases. Highest case loads occurred in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Lower Saxony; western Thuringia saw a notable local rise. Presentation was nephropathia epidemica with hospitalization but low mortality.
Why this matters
Then-largest German hantavirus year on record (later surpassed by 2012), demonstrating the multi-clade structure of German PUUV epidemics and prompting RKI to refine vole-population early-warning research.
Sources
- T1 Multiple Synchronous Outbreaks of Puumala Virus, Germany, 2010 Emerging Infectious Diseases (CDC) · 2026-05-07
- T1 RKI-Ratgeber: Hantavirus-Erkrankungen Robert Koch Institute · 2026-05-07