Right now, Hantavirus is a topic of discussion everywhere. The main questions related to this are: Can this virus spread as fast as coronavirus? Can this infection spread simply by touch, and is the world headed for another new pandemic? Amidst these countless questions, WHO has issued a warning and given important information about this situation.
What is the situation?
In fact, the case concerns a Dutch-flagged luxury cruise ship, the MV Hondius, where hantavirus infection has been confirmed following an outbreak of a mysterious respiratory illness. So far, eight cases linked to the ship have been reported; Hantavirus has been confirmed in five of these people, while three cases are still considered suspected. Three people have also died.
What does the World Health Organization say?
According to World Health Organization officials, the first person infected on the ship fell ill on April 6 and died on April 11. Initially, doctors did not suspect hantavirus because the symptoms were similar to those of common respiratory infections. For this reason, no samples were taken initially. Later, when other passengers also started falling ill, health agencies began investigating for hantavirus.
What do experts say?
Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, an infectious disease expert at the World Health Organization, clearly said that this virus should not be compared with coronavirus. “This is not SARS-CoV-2, and it does not spread that way. The only risk of infection is very close and prolonged contact,” he said. He also noted that, in most cases, hantavirus does not spread from person to person at all.
How does this virus spread?
Health experts say that Hantavirus is usually spread through contact with infected rats or their feces and urine. However, in this particular case, the Andes strain is suspected – a rare strain of hantavirus that has limited ability to spread from person to person. This is why WHO is monitoring this situation very closely.
Incubation period of up to six weeks
WHO has also said that the incubation period (time taken for symptoms of infection to appear) of Hantavirus can be up to six weeks. This means that symptoms may appear several weeks after infection. For this reason, travelers are currently being monitored in many countries around the world. WHO has issued a warning to 12 countries where passengers who disembarked from the ship in St. Helena have arrived. Considering the seriousness of the situation, a team of WHO experts, Dutch medical professionals and representatives of the ‘European Center for Disease Prevention and Control’ has reached the ship. The team is conducting medical examinations of the passengers and trying to find out whether the infection spread on the ship, or whether people were already infected before boarding the ship.
Although WHO currently considers the global risk associated with this virus to be low, experts believe that staying in close proximity to each other for long periods of time in closed spaces such as cruise ships may increase the risk of infection. As a result, health agencies around the world are on high alert regarding this matter.