Hantavirus is a virus found in rodents that transfers to humans and causes disease. The virus has been present in Europe and Asia since 960 AD in China and appears in outbreaks all over the world every few hundred years. Hantavirus is trending in the news right now, and many are worried that this virus will cause a worldwide pandemic, again. In reality, Hantavirus will not cause a worldwide pandemic if it is contained well enough.
The Hantavirus is classified as two types. Old World Hantaviruses are more common in Europe and Asia and cause many different symptoms like a headache, nausea, vomiting, and possible spots on the skin. The fatality rate is lower than the New World Hantaviruses with a 1-15% fatality rate. New World Hantaviruses have flu-like symptoms, irregular heart rate, and eventually pulmonary capillary leakage and fluid in the chest cavity. This type of disease has a 30-60% fatality rate. Other viruses with a similar fatality rate are Ebola, Smallpox (without a vaccination) and tetanus (also without a vaccination) and tuberculosis. Covid-19 has a fatality rate of about 1% depending on the strain.
Hantaviruses, in history, tend to break out during wars due to poor hygiene. In World War I, Hantavirus broke out due to rodents in the trenches in France. Hantavirus is named after one specific outbreak during the Korean War. 3200 cases were reported in 1951 and reported a hemorrhagic fever. A South Korean scientist in the 1970s tested the antibodies of the virus and named it Hantaan Virus after the river it was found by. There is a Hantavirus vaccine, but it is only effective against Northeast Asia strains. The first outbreak in the US was in 1993 near New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona. This strain was called the Sin Nombre virus. This was the first pathogenic hantavirus in North America.
The newest outbreak is on a Dutch cruise ship and is a type of Hantavirus and is the Andes Virus. Andes Virus is the only known virus that transfers from person to person as well as from rodents. It is unknown if it is airborne or not. There are 147 individuals on board and 11 confirmed cases and three deaths. Many of the individuals on board who were infected were elderly, leaving them more susceptible to the disease due to a compromised immune system. Many are evacuating the ship and returning to their home countries to quarantine. There are 41 people from the cruise ship in 16 different US states for quarantine and studying the virus. As well as they are contained correctly, there is no threat to the world with another widespread outbreak.
While Hantavirus is deadly, much misinformation is being spread online that it will cause a widespread outbreak and cause a worldwide lockdown again. As long as the virus is contained correctly, which it is, another pandemic will not happen.
