No hantavirus cases recorded in PH this 2026 -DOH

The Department of Health (DOH) said there had been no case of hantavirus so far in the country in 2026.

“None,” DOH spokesperson Undersecretary Albert Domingo told GMA News Online when asked about recent hantavirus cases in the Philippines amid the death of three passengers on board an Antlantic cruise ship due to the virus, with three more still infected.

Infectious diseases expert Dr. Rontgene Solante said that while there was no case in 2026, there had been previous cases of hantavirus in the country.

“For the Philippines, yes, there are already reports of hantavirus positive patients in the past,” he said in a message to GMA News Online.

He, however, said there is no need to panic.

“No need to panic. It's a rodent-related infection. Not a cause of alarm,” he added.

Hantavirus is an infection transmitted between rodents to humans, often causing symptoms of fever, headache, muscle aches, abdominal pain, nausea, or vomiting.

Cough, shortness of breath, accumulation of fluid in the lungs, and shock can follow later, along with hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS), haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), low blood pressure, bleeding disorders, and kidney failure later on.

DOH monitoring the situation

In a public briefing on Tuesday, Domingo said they are monitoring the situation both at the cruise and in the country.

In the Philippines, he shared that they are looking into alleged previous cases of hantavirus.

“Meron mga lumang-lumang reports, 1992 pa, na pinapahanap namin 'yung mga papel kung ito nga ba 'yung hanta kasi baka iba siya… Ang kanyang mga sintomas ay mga malatrangkaso na sakit. Pwede magkaroon ng lagnat, pananakit ng katawan. Halos kahawig niya ang lepto, ang dengue,” he said.

(There were old reports way back in 1992 and we are searching for documents to see if this really is the hantavirus since it might be different… It’s symptoms appear similar to fever. You may have fever, body pains. It might look similar to leptospirosis or dengue,)

Despite this, Domingo assured the public that the cases at the cruise ship were far away and that they were quarantined.

“Mahalaga po ang paghahanda nito ng DOH, ang ating Bureau of Quarantine… Sa utos ng ating Pangulo, binabantayan po natin 'yung sitwasyon at ayon na rin sa coordination natin sa mga ahensya ng gobyerno… Cruise ship po 'yan, hindi po 'yan kakalat,” he said.

(The preparation of DOH and the Bureau of Quarantine are important… With the order of the President, we are monitoring the situation and coordinating with government agencies on the responsibility of repatriation… This is a cruise ship so it won’t spread.)

“Antabayanan po natin kung paano sila makakauwi,” he added.

(Let’s wait and see how they will get home.)

DOH said that tuberculosis remains more alarming and deadlier than hantavirus.

According to a study in 2000, the Philippines is one of 10 countries with urban rats infected with hantavirus and that 6.1% of Filipino men and women had positive hantavirus antibodies.

It noted that hantavirus often presented itself as asymptomatic in the Philippines or is often misdiagnosed as leptospirosis or dengue fever.

In 2016, it was also reported that a newfound “Quezon Virus” was a strain of hantavirus found after analyzing lung tissues of 376 fruit bats collected in the Philippines between 2008 to 2013.

“Based on current information and what we know about the virus from previous outbreaks, the overall risk to the public is low,” shared World Health Organization (WHO) Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention director Maria Van Kerkhove.

“People usually get infected through contact with infected rodents or their urine, their droppings, or their saliva. Spread between people is uncommon, but limited spread has been reported among close contacts in some previous outbreaks,” she added. —AOL, GMA News