Reported Cases of Hantavirus Disease
Hantavirus Infection in the United States
Hantavirus disease surveillance in the United States began in 1993 during an outbreak of severe respiratory illness in the Four Corners region – the area where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) became a nationally notifiable disease in 1995 and is now reported through the Nationally Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (NNDSS) when fever is present in a patient with laboratory-confirmed evidence of hantavirus infection.
In 2014, the Council of State & Territorial Epidemiologists expanded the national reporting of laboratory-confirmed hantavirus infections to include HPS and non-pulmonary hantavirus infection, an illness with non-specific viral symptoms, such as fever, chills, headache, fatigue, but no cardio-pulmonary symptoms. Reporting of non-pulmonary hantavirus cases began in 2015.
Reported Cases of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome in the United States
As of the end of 2021*, 850 cases of hantavirus disease were reported in the United States since surveillance began in 1993. These were all laboratory-confirmed cases and included HPS and non-pulmonary hantavirus infection.
The map below shows the distribution by state of hantavirus cases in the United States from 1993 through 2021.
Data is reported by state only. County-level data for hantavirus cannot be provided to protect the identities of the people who contracted hantavirus. Contact your local or state health department for information about hantavirus disease cases in your area.
* Due to the case review and confirmation process, annual hantavirus case information is reported in the spring of the following year. Reporting of annual case information is delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hantavirus Disease Characteristics in the United States
The following table is based on the national surveillance data reported to CDC’s Viral Special Pathogens Branch and collected by the NNDSS.
Table 1. Hantavirus Disease** Characteristics in the United States
Characteristic
Characteristic
Number/Percentage
Number/Percentage
Cases of hantavirus infection, as of December 2020
Cases of hantavirus infection, as of December 2020
850 cases
850 cases
HPS cases
HPS cases
821 cases
821 cases
Non-pulmonary hantavirus infection1
Non-pulmonary hantavirus infection1
29 cases
29 cases
Sex of confirmed case patients
Sex of confirmed case patients
62% Male
38% Female
62% Male
38% Female
Race of confirmed case patients
Race of confirmed case patients
74% White
17% American Indian/Alaska Native
1% Black or African American
1% Asian
<1% Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander
6% Unknown
74% White
17% American Indian/Alaska Native
1% Black or African American
1% Asian
<1% Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander
6% Unknown
Ethnicity of confirmed case patients
Ethnicity of confirmed case patients
15% Hispanic/Latino
64% Not Hispanic/Latino
21% Unknown
15% Hispanic/Latino
64% Not Hispanic/Latino
21% Unknown
Median age of confirmed case patients
Median age of confirmed case patients
38 years (range 5 to 88 years)
38 years (range 5 to 88 years)
Mean age of confirmed case patients
Mean age of confirmed case patients
39 years (range 5 to 88 years)
39 years (range 5 to 88 years)
Cases of hantavirus infection resulting in death
Cases of hantavirus infection resulting in death
35%
35%
Cases of hantavirus infection occurring west of the Mississippi River
Cases of hantavirus infection occurring west of the Mississippi River
94%
94%
** Hantavirus disease includes HPS and non-pulmonary hantavirus infection
1Prior to changing the case definition in 2015, data was not systematically collected and reported for non-pulmonary hantavirus infection.