Hantavirus is back in the news after three people have died, one person is in intensive care, and at least three more have been sickened in a hantavirus outbreak on a Dutch cruise ship sailing between remote islands in the Atlantic.
Hantavirus is relatively rare, and it’s primarily caused by contact with the droppings, urine, or saliva of infected rodents. If it’s ringing a bell, it was the suspected cause of death last year of Betsy Arakawa, the actor Gene Hackman’s wife. The cruise ship case is particularly interesting because the WHO says that human-to-human transmission can’t be ruled out, in part because this cruise departed from Argentina, where one of the largest outbreaks of hantavirus happened back in 2018 with 30+ cases, including some spread between people.
Symptoms of this type of hantavirus often begin with fever, diarrhea or vomiting, fatigue, and muscle aches, but can progress to severe respiratory distress, including coughing, shortness of breath, and pneumonia.
There are different types of hantavirus around the world that can cause different symptoms. There are two strains common in the Americas (including the southwest U.S.), both of which cause respiratory symptoms. Once a patient develops respiratory symptoms, about 38% of those cases are fatal. Based on the symptoms that the WHO is reporting, it’s likely that at least the first patient picked this virus up in the Americas. They’re still investigating to see whether the patients all had contact with rodent droppings or fluids, or if there may have been person-to-person spread.
We’ll make it very clear - there’s no reason to panic. Only one strain of this virus is known to pass from person to person, usually found in Argentina and Chile, and it requires prolonged close contact to transmit the virus. The risk of a pandemic from hantavirus is incredibly low.
At the end of the day, the primary way that you can prevent hantavirus is to take care when you’re cleaning up after rodents.
Here are some best practices your employees should use when cleaning up after rodents:
We love this graphic from the CDC’s hantavirus prevention document. We’d just add an N95 mask, since they’re easy to use and widely available.
Dr. Céline Gounder, CBS contributor and editor at large of KFF Health News, had a fascinating newsletter this week about the impact of recent policies on the investigation into the hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship. The U.S. isn’t part of the investigation because we’ve “withdrawn from the WHO, rejected International Health Regulations, and gutted the CDC teams.”
