Hantavirus infection has been known in Bulgaria for decades, with the first documented cases dating back to the late 1950s among workers involved in the construction of the Batak hydroelectric power plant, epidemiologist Prof. Todor Kantardzhiev told Trud News . He noted that the country typically records around ten cases per year. According to him, the disease in its European form is known as hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome and is often associated with rodent exposure. He stressed that