Hantavirus: An Introduction

As a lot of us know there is a new virus in town.

Hantavirus is a severe, often fatal disease (for all we know because of its small amount of victims), spread by rodents. It is considered deadly because of its 50% mortality rate. It causes leaky blood vessels, leading to fluid filling the lungs and severe, sudden breathing. 1–8 weeks after exposure, it starts with fever, fatigue, muscle aches, nausea, diarrhoea, and dizziness. 

It spread on a cruise ship called the “MV Hondius”. It was brought onto the ship by ‘patient 0’ who was a bird watcher and photographer. He was on his trip in Argentina and went to a rubbish dump to get some pictures of the birds living (and feasting) on the island. He caught the virus by inhaling aerosolized particles from the faeces or urine of infected long-tailed pygmy rice rats. We don’t know how the first rats got it, but we know that the rats spread it between each other via contact.

Hantaviruses are naturally found primarily in rodents. In general, each hantavirus is carried by one rodent species and each rodent that carries a hantavirus carries one hantavirus species.