How is hantavirus spread?<\/p>\n
Hantaviruses are usually spread to humans through contact with or inhalation of contaminated rodent faeces, urine and saliva. Rarely, transmission can occur from a bite or scratch by infected animals.<\/p>\n
Associate Prof Vinod Balasubramaniam, a molecular virologist at Monash University Malaysia, said hantaviruses \u201cdo not usually spread easily from person to person in the way that you see flu or Covid-19 does\u201d.<\/p>\n
There are two major lineages of hantavirus: old world hantaviruses and new world hantaviruses.<\/p>\n
New world hantaviruses are found in the Americas and usually cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. The most common type in South America is the Andes virus, which is also the virus responsible for the cruise ship outbreak. Unusually for hantaviruses, human-to-human spread<\/a> of the Andes virus has previously been documented.<\/p>\n Old world hantaviruses are found in Europe and Asia \u2013 these include puumala hantavirus, Hantaan virus and Seoul virus.<\/p>\n The hantavirus outbreak aboard MV Hondius was \u201can example of inter-species disease transmission which has put health and government authorities on alert\u201d, said Dr Ariful Islam, an epidemiologist at Charles Sturt University who specialises in biosecurity and pandemic science.<\/p>\n Could the hantavirus outbreak become the next Covid-19? <\/p>\n \u201cThis is not another Covid,\u201d Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus<\/a>, the director general of the World Health Organization, said on Saturday. \u201cThe current public health risk from hantavirus remains low.\u201d<\/p>\n Islam said it was important to be mindful that the next pandemic could be around the corner but, while the hantavirus outbreak was alarming, people need not panic.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not a new virus \u2026 it\u2019s a known virus with many subtypes,\u201d said Islam, who researches the genetic diversity of hantaviruses and their spillover risk to humans. \u201cWe know the history of host and transmission, we know the symptoms.\u201d<\/p>\n It was \u201clikely not possible\u201d for the current outbreak \u201cto become a full-blown pandemic similar to Covid-19 or H1N1, the previous flu pandemic\u201d, Balasubramaniam said. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe concern here is not that hantavirus is going to become like Covid or influenza.\u201d More concerning, he said, was the illness\u2019s high mortality rate.<\/p>\n Fatality rates from new world hantaviruses, which cause more severe symptoms, tend to be much higher than deaths caused by the old world hantaviruses.<\/p>\n The new world hantaviruses cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which has a fatality rate of about 40%<\/a> in the Americas.<\/p>\n There is no specific antiviral drug to treat such viruses, which are typically managed with supportive care, including oxygen, fluid management, blood pressure support and ventilation.<\/p>\n Why is the quarantine period so long? <\/p>\n After they arrive in Australia, the passengers who were aboard MV Hondius will spend the first three weeks<\/a> of a 42-day quarantine at the Centre for National Resilience in Perth.<\/p>\n This is due to the virus\u2019s long incubation period \u2013 the gap between initial exposure and when symptoms first develop. \u201cUsually when we are symptomatic, that is a clear indication of the virus successfully penetrating our immune [defences],\u201d Balasubramaniam said.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven the incubation of the period of the Andes virus, which can be up to six weeks, it\u2019s possible that more cases may be reported,\u201d Tedros said on Friday<\/a>.<\/p>\n