Abstract

Andes virus (ANDV), a member of the Orthohantavirus genus in the Hantaviridae family, has a trisegmented, single-stranded RNA-genome and is the etiologic agent of hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS) in Chile and Argentina (1). The main route of infection in humans is through the inhalation of aerosolized viral particles present in contaminated rodent excreta (1), but the virus can also be transmitted from person to person (2,3). During acute disease, ANDV RNA can be detected in patients’ blood, respiratory secretions, saliva, gingival crevicular fluid, and urine (pers. communication). Epidemiologic data suggested that person-to-person transmission mainly occurs through close contact with oral fluids during the prodromal and acute phases of infection (2). We report epidemiologic and virologic analyses of a mother and her newborn that provide evidence that ANDV is shed in breast milk and suggest breastfeeding as a novel route of ANDV infection. The Ethical Review Board of Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, approved the study.