Hantavirus alarm

The alert

Hantavirus, Schillaci: 'Very low risk but in any case the pandemic plan works'

The networks under the Plan have been activated in a coordinated manner and citizens 'can rest assured', but in any case there is a promise to continue monitoring and communicating in a timely and transparent manner: the minister's point to the Chamber of Deputies

by Barbara Gobbi

13 May 2026

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

'The risk to the general population in Europe has always been and remains very low: this has been confirmed by the highest international health authorities and Italia has not been standing still since the beginning'. Thus Health Minister Orazio Schillaci in response to the question time at the Chamber of Deputies, on the dreaded dangers of the spread of the Hantavirus in Italia and Italy's response capabilities. 'Epidemiological update, case definition, public health indications, fiduciary quarantine for high-risk contacts, and active surveillance for the others,' summarised the health minister, lining up the indications of the circular issued on 11 May.

The Point

'All four people in Italia today who were on the 25 April Johannesburg-Amsterdam flight are asymptomatic and are being closely monitored,' Schillaci reiterated in front of MPs, relaunching the point made in a note in the morning. 'The tests available today were negative. The two cases reported yesterday in Milan and Messina are also negative to the tests,' he concluded.

What Italia did

The minister did not miss a polemical tirade. "Let me be precise, because someone said that we were standing still. Unfortunately, the usual self-defeating attitude has started that Italia would never be ready. This is not true,' he said.
And here are the facts, which intertwine international health management and Italy's internal 'moves'.

On 5 May, the ECDC reported that the woman who died in Johannesburg on 26 April tested positive for hantavirus. On the same day, the ministry sent a report to the regions and the Maritime, Air and Border Health Offices (Usmaf), with the data released by the Ecdc and WHO, ensuring monitoring and institutional coordination at national and international level.

On 8 May, Schillaci continued, 'we received information from the European Commission about four people travelling to Italia who were on the flight from South Africa to the Netherlands on 25 April where one of the infected cases, who later died, had boarded and immediately disembarked. On the same day we took action to trace them and immediately alerted the regions concerned to activate active surveillance procedures. Also on 8 May, the 'Dispatch' network of experts met. On the same day, the Expert Group for the National Laboratory Network also met'.

Finally, on 11 May, the Ministry of Health issued the operational circular ranging from the epidemiological update to the two measures of 'fiduciary quarantine for high-risk contacts' and 'active surveillance for others'.

The Pandemic Plan 'works'

"The 2025-2029 Pandemic Plan approved in April by the State-Regions Conference is working and is proving it in these days: unlike the previous one, it allows calibrated responses for different scenarios" and on the occasion of this Hantavirus alert "the networks envisaged by the Plan have been activated in a coordinated manner: it was not a theoretical exercise but a concrete, timely and proportionate response," the minister told the Chamber. In any case, the reassurance is that 'the ministry continues to constantly monitor the evolution of the international epidemiological picture,' he added. 'We will issue further indications if and when the scientific evidence requires it, communicating with timeliness and transparency as we have done so far. We are ready, the system is working, and citizens can rest assured,' he concluded.

EU on alert

Meanwhile, in order to deal with the developments related to the Hantavirus, the Cypriot EU presidency has reportedly activated the Ipcr crisis response mechanism. 'As a precautionary measure, we have decided to use the Integrated Political Crisis Response Meetings (Ipcr) in order to monitor the situation and facilitate information sharing between the member states,' explained a spokesperson of the Cypriot EU presidency. In Brussels, the Commission would give the ambassadors of the 27 member states an overview of the situation and the efforts made so far to ensure coordination. Although the risk for the population is low, monitoring of the epidemiological situation will continue. The relevant EU health structures have been activated since the first notification sent via the EU Early Warning and Response System on 9 May.