Abstract:
Haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) is caused by hantavirus infection. Hantaviruses are not endemic to South Africa, and
we report the first detection of an imported case of HFRS in the country. The case involved a traveller from Croatia who presented to a
Johannesburg hospital with an acute febrile illness with renal dysfunction. The patient reported visiting rurally located horse stables in
Croatia before falling ill, and that a worker in the stables with similar illness was diagnosed with HFRS. Given the exposure history and
clinical findings of the case, a clinical diagnosis of HFRS was made and confirmed by laboratory testing.
