Overview
- Mía Rodríguez, 10, died on January 8 in General Belgrano, with hantavirus confirmed through the national SISA system in coordination with provincial health authorities.
- Her death raises the province’s confirmed fatalities to four in early 2026, following cases involving a 14-year-old in Pergamino, a 59-year-old linked to Chacabuco/Junín, and a 33-year-old in Mar del Plata.
- The General Belgrano municipality implemented a sanitary blockade in the rural paraje Chas, conducting weed clearing, fumigation, rodent control and active contact surveillance.
- According to the local health secretary, the child was seen on January 5 for fever, returned with worsening symptoms and low platelets, was transferred to the La Plata children’s hospital and died on January 8.
- Health officials say the cluster reflects seasonal rodent-borne transmission, with the Pan American Health Organization recently warning of rising cases and lethality in the region and noting person-to-person spread is not expected except for a rare Patagonian strain.