The NSPCA has appealed for calm as hantavirus South Africa concerns grow following one critically ill patient in a Johannesburg ICU and three deaths linked to a cruise ship outbreak. The animal welfare body warned the public against panic-driven cruelty toward rodents, urging only humane control methods. Health authorities confirmed there is no community outbreak in the country.
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NSPCA position on rodent control
The NSPCA confirmed that hantavirus disease remains extremely rare in South Africa, with current cases linked to international travel rather than local outbreaks. The organisation urged the public to use only humane methods of rodent control. According to the NSPCA, killing or injuring rats and mice will not reduce public health risk and cruelty driven by fear is treated as a criminal welfare matter.
Department of Health and NICD response
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases is conducting contact tracing alongside Gauteng health authorities. Both the World Health Organization and South Africa’s Department of Health have confirmed there is no cause for public panic. Members of the public are advised to store food properly, wash hands before food preparation and limit contact with rodent droppings, urine or saliva, which is how the virus typically spreads.
