Overview
- The infection, disclosed Monday by the Erding district office, involves a local resident and prompted a source-tracing investigation with Bavaria’s LGL, while the person’s condition was not released.
- Current evidence indicates no human-to-human spread, and experts point to exposure to field shrews or their excretions such as droppings, urine, saliva and skin as the likely route.
- Health officials urge simple steps to cut risk, including never handling shrews with bare hands, wearing FFP2 or FFP3 masks during dusty cleanups, and using gloves, disinfectant and sealed bags to dispose of carcasses.
- The virus often causes life-threatening brain inflammation, and care is limited to antiviral drugs and treatments that suppress the immune response that drives severe symptoms.
- Germany logs fewer than ten human cases a year, with most in Bavaria, and several deaths were reported last year in the districts of Tirschenreuth and Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm.