As the different countries of the world continue to struggle to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, apprehensions have grown that another deadly infectious disease has the possibility of sweeping the planet.
Relatively, previous reports came out indicating a man from Yunnan Province in China, died after he was tested positive for hantavirus, a rare kind of infectious disease transferred from rodents to human beings. This man, as reported in the Global Times, died while he was heading back to Shandong Province.
The said news alarmed a lot of people, specifically, those on Twitter as the Global Times' first tweet about the issue had been re-tweeted thousands of times and this was quite understandable considering the present global situation which COVID-19 has caused.
However, many also wonder if this is hantavirus is something people should be worried about. Health experts said, no, and one of the reasons is that this virus which typically "causes infection in rats, as well as the other rodents, but they "do not cause illness in them." More so, it is probable for such infections to be transferred to humans through the urine of a rodent, drops or saliva, even though this virus is rare.
Some Apprehensions About the Disease
Some people worry that if hantavirus gets transferred to humans, it can lead to deadly illnesses such as the "hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS)," an infrequent respiratory illness, which, by the looks of it, appears not too different from COVID-19.
Meanwhile, conditions of hantavirus which is named after South Korea's Hanan River where an outbreak was initially observed during the 70s decade. More so, based on the UK Government's guidance, the same viruses were reported on all continents but Australia. Relatively, around 150,000 are believed to take place each year globally.
Still, in connection to the said guideline, it said that very few hantavirus cases in the UK have been confirmed. Additionally, symptoms of the HPS include lethargy, headache, cough, shortness of breath and fever, which swiftly declines into the failure of the respiratory system, even with the help of mechanical ventilation.
This illness is perceived to have a 36-percent death rate, although such cases remain rare. Because of hantavirus's rareness, science and health experts say, the disease is indeed, highly implausible "to be the next global pandemic."
Not a New Phenomenon
Hantaviruses are not a new health condition. They have already been recorded for decades. Also, a single report of human death because of the virus, experts say, should not result in major worries and concerns. More so, it hardly establishes an 'outbreak' either.
These no-longer unusual viruses are seldom spread between people. Even though transmission of the same virus between humans was reported in South America a few years ago, specifically in 2005 and 2019, it has nearly completely been associated with contact of human "with rodent excrement." Typically, news of a single human death because of hantavirus infections is not considered compelling news.
However, considering the status of the said virus as a comparative unknown that seems frightening written down, and that its victim was from China-where COVID-19 is believed to have originated-it all turns for a number of must-read headlines during this period of uncertainty.
And finally, another good news is that hantavirus can be avoided. Just like what most people do to get rid of the infection of COVID-19, simple hygiene protections like hand-washing after handling rats, or their cage and bedding should also be applied.
