There is concern over the hantavirus outbreak that broke out on the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius off the coast of Cape Verde.
3 deaths have been recorded and another 5 confirmed cases, while there are over 140 people still on board. The victims are a Dutch couple and a German.
However, the World Health Organization, while carefully monitoring the development of events, has taken steps to reassure people by explaining that humanity is not at all faced with a new pandemic comparable to that of Covid-19.
This is what Maria Van Kerkhove, a WHO epidemiologist specializing in infectious diseases, declared:
I want to be unequivocal on this point: we are not faced with a new Sars-CoV-2. This is a very different virus, which has been around for a long time and which we are familiar with. And this is an outbreak that occurred on a ship. We are not in the same situation as six years ago.
And again:
For hantavirus, close and close contact is needed, as we have seen (while) most hantaviruses do not transmit from person to person at all.
And Abdirahman Sheikh Mahamud, head of the WHO health alert department, also urged people to remain calm:
We do not expect a major epidemic in light of the experience of our Member States and the actions they have taken. We believe this will prevent subsequent chains of transmission.
According to the WHO, the hantavirus infections recorded on the ship would have been favored precisely by the limited spaces and very close contacts between the people on board.
What is hantavirus and how is it transmitted
As the Istituto Superiore di Sanità website explains, hantaviruses belong to a family of viruses spread mainly by rodents, which are occasionally transmitted to humans.
Transmission to humans generally occurs through contact with contaminated particles coming from urine, saliva or feces of infected animals.
Infection in humans can cause serious illness and often death, although illnesses vary depending on the type of virus and geographic area. The variant identified on the ship would be the so-called “Andes variant”, considered the only form of hantavirus known for possible transmission between people.
Confirming what WHO officials claimed, the ISS also points out that hantavirus infections are relatively rare. There is therefore no risk of a global pandemic.
While transmission from contaminated surfaces to humans is more common, human-to-human transmission of pulmonary hypersensitivity syndrome (HPS) is also possible in settings involving close and prolonged contact. Just like a cruise ship.
Symptoms of hantavirus
Hantavirus syndrome is characterized by a number of symptoms:
- heachache;
- dizziness;
- chills;
- fever;
- myalgia;
- gastrointestinal problems (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain)
- respiratory difficulties;
- hypotension.
Symptoms of HPS are similar to those of the flu and typically appear 2 to 4 weeks after initial exposure to the virus. In rarer cases, symptoms can appear even 8 weeks after exposure.
Therapy
There is currently no specific antiviral treatment or vaccine against hantavirus. Treatment consists of managing symptoms and complications.
