Cruise Ship Virus Outbreak: Health experts say that Hantavirus is usually spread through contact with infected rats or their feces. However, the Andes strain is suspected in this case.

Can the Hanta virus spread like the coronavirus?

How dangerous is Hantavirus compared to Covid? Currently, discussions about Hantavirus are being widely discussed. The main question is: can this virus spread as rapidly as the coronavirus? Will it spread through mere touch, and is the world heading towards another pandemic? Amid these questions, the WHO has issued an alert and provided important information about the situation.

What is the matter?

This case is related to the Dutch-flagged luxury cruise ship MV Hondius, where a mysterious respiratory illness has been followed by a confirmed hantavirus infection. Eight cases have been reported on the ship so far, including five confirmed cases and three suspected cases. Three people have died.

What does the World Health Organization say?

According to World Health Organization officials, the first infected person 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 a common respiratory infection. Therefore, initial samples were not taken. Later, when other passengers also began falling ill, health agencies began testing for Hantavirus.

What do the experts say?

Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, an infectious disease expert at the World Health Organization, clearly stated that this virus should not be compared to the coronavirus. She said, "It is not SARS-CoV-2 and does not spread in the same way. The infection is only likely to spread through very close and prolonged contact." She also pointed out that most hantaviruses do not spread from person to person.

How does this virus spread?

Health experts say that Hantavirus is usually spread through contact with infected rats or their feces. However, in this case, the Andes strain is suspected, a rare type of Hantavirus that has been shown to have limited human-to-human transmission. This is why the WHO is closely monitoring this case.

Incubation period up to six weeks

The WHO also stated that the incubation period for Hantavirus can be up to six weeks. This means that symptoms can appear several weeks after infection. For this reason, passengers are being monitored in many countries around the world. The WHO has sent an alert to 12 countries whose passengers disembarked in St. Helena. Given the seriousness of the situation, WHO experts, doctors from the Netherlands, and a team from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control have arrived on the ship. This team is conducting medical examinations of the passengers and trying to determine whether the infection spread onboard or whether people were already infected.

Although the WHO currently estimates the global risk to be low, experts believe that prolonged congregating in enclosed spaces, such as cruise ships, could increase the risk of infection. This is why health agencies around the world are closely monitoring the situation.