Venezuela says three people with confirmed hantavirus have died

CARACAS, July 21 - Three people with confirmed cases of hantavirus have died in Venezuela's eastern Anzoategui state, the country's health ministry said on Tuesday.

Two other deaths, both of health professionals in the state of Barinas, are unconnected to the cases in Anzoategui and still under investigation, the ministry added in a statement, saying they are specific events that do not represent a risk to the health of the community.

"This virus is transmitted by rodents in rural and agricultural areas, principally by inhaling particles of urine, feces or saliva in enclosed spaces," the statement said. "There is no scientific evidence of person-to-person transmission in our country."

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last month it had ended its response to the hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship, nearly two months after the virus killed three people.

The Andes virus involved in that outbreak is the only known hantavirus that can spread through close, prolonged human-to-human contact. REUTERS