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Risk factors
By Mayo Clinic staffYour chance of contracting most VHFs is low. Some are confined to isolated pockets in remote areas where the risk of transmission is slight. And because each virus is usually associated with a specific host species, it's normally restricted to the area where that species lives.
Yet taken together, the viruses that cause VHFs occur over most of the world. And some VHFs, especially Lassa, yellow and dengue hemorrhagic fevers, pose a real threat to people traveling to or living in regions where these diseases are widespread, primarily sub-Saharan Africa and South America.
In general, your risk of contracting any disease abroad depends on your itinerary and activities, the length of your stay and the rate of transmission of a particular disease at the time. If you're visiting a region for a short time, staying in westernized hotels and taking guided tours, your risk is less than it is if you're traveling for months and living in a tent. Still, you're at risk of epidemic diseases such as dengue fever even in the best of circumstances, although your risk is likely lower if there are no outbreaks of the disease during your visit.
In the United States, you're more likely to contract a hantavirus if your region has a large rodent population known to carry the virus. The risk increases if you live in the country or suburbs, you work outdoors, or you spend time in rodent-infested buildings.
On the other hand, hospital workers treating people with VHFs as well as researchers and laboratory personnel who deal with the viruses are at high risk of infection. In Africa, health care workers frequently contract Ebola from patients, and a number of cases of laboratory-acquired infection have been documented worldwide.
