There is a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship that has already left 3 dead and the others on the cruise exposed. On April 24th, the exposed passengers left the ship as anyone would on a normal cruise. Although the risk to the general public is low, it’s still raising concerns as contact tracing is necessary. It is spreading as someone got on a plane while infected and now a crew member is being tested and isolated in Amsterdam. On May 2nd, it was released to the public that the cruise doctor was infected and had to be evacuated from the ship with the other infected passengers. What is scary about this disease is that after being exposed, symptoms can show up 1-8 weeks after being infected.
Additionally, it was discovered that the version on the ship was the Andes virus. It is a deadly hantavirus strain with confirmed person to person transmission.
Senior Paridhi Miglani said, “From what I’ve read, it is possible from human to human contact, but only close contact. So for example, the people who were on the ship who got on planes after, anyone who sat around them could be infected. However, it is not like Covid in the sense that they can be affected based on proximity to the person. People are being dramatic.”
A lot of people on social media are stressing that this is exactly how the COVID-19 pandemic started. The symptoms, however, are a lot worse than Covid and the disease alone has a really high mortality rate; it’s anywhere between 35%-50%. The symptoms of the virus include flu-like symptoms plus nausea and if it gets really bad, it can cause respiratory issues.
Some Americans are being monitored for the virus in Georgia, California, and Arizona. They have no symptoms but again, symptoms take a while to show up.
BHS Journalism teacher Mr. Malossi said, “Turns out the R-not value for hantavirus is very low. So it is not very easily transmitted from person to person. Covid was about a 7 R Not. Hantavirus is just over 1. It’s only going to spread from person to person when they’re in a confined space, like a cruise ship.”
Hopefully, this new virus does not become another Covid-19 situation. Best wishes to the victims and their loved ones.
