Moroccan authorities have dismissed reports circulating on social media linking an ongoing pest control campaign in northern Morocco to the emergence of hantavirus cases, describing the operation as a routine public health measure.
According to officials in the northern Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, the campaign targeting mosquitoes, rats and other rodents is part of regular sanitation and disease-prevention efforts carried out across several cities and provinces.
The clarification comes after social media users shared photos and videos showing public health teams working in drainage channels, waterways and sewage systems in the municipality of Gueznaia, near Tangier. The images prompted speculation that the operations were connected to suspected hantavirus infections.
A regional official, speaking on condition of anonymity, denied the claims to Hespress AR and said the campaign was focused on controlling rodents and mosquitoes in areas identified as potential breeding grounds for disease vectors.
The official acknowledged that health authorities had recently recorded a number of bacterial infections linked to rat bites in Gueznaia, but stressed that such cases are not unusual and occur in many countries around the world.
The infections prompted health services to notify local authorities, who coordinated sanitation, cleaning and rodent-control operations in affected areas, the official said.
“The situation does not warrant concern and has no connection to hantavirus,” the source said, adding that pest-control campaigns are conducted periodically to reduce populations of rodents, insects and other disease carriers.
Officials said such health risks are more commonly associated with areas affected by informal housing, inadequate sewage infrastructure and stagnant water, conditions that can facilitate the proliferation of rodents and insects.
Regional sources said pest-control operations are ongoing throughout the region and include water testing to determine appropriate treatment methods for eliminating mosquito larvae and preventing further breeding.
The measures are not limited to specific neighborhoods or municipalities but extend to a range of locations, including stables and undeveloped areas where disease-carrying pests may periodically emerge.
Morocco has also implemented preventive rodent-control measures at airports and ports as part of broader efforts to prevent the introduction of hantavirus into the country during Operation Marhaba 2026, the annual summer transit program that brings millions of visitors and expatriate Moroccans into the kingdom. Authorities have also established response protocols for any suspected cases and their contacts.
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