There is no question that hantavirus is having a moment! Most of us had never heard of hantavirus before acting great, Gene Hackman, passed away several days after his wife died from the then almost unknown hantavirus.

We learned that in the US, hantaviruses cases are rare and spread through contact with infected rodents, especially exposure to urine, droppings, saliva, or contaminated dust particles that become airborne when disturbed. The hantavirus has a relatively high mortality rate, but a low rate of contagion because it hardly ever passes from human to human.

We moved on until this month when the M/V Hondius sailed into our lives and triggered a bit of a panic.

For those who don’t doomscroll or consume any news whatsoever, here’s a quick review:

The M/V Hondius is a cruise ship that traveled from Argentina toward Antarctica and the South Atlantic. Several passengers became ill with a rare strain of hantavirus called Andes virus. Three people died, among them a Dutch couple sharing a cabin, who were likely exposed outside the boat, and a German tourist. The ship’s doctor who treated the couple tested positive, clearly indicating that there was person-to-person transmission. A French passenger who tested positive is on an iron lung in a French hospital. So far, 11 passengers have tested positive. Three have died. One is critical. And scientists can’t reconstruct the way the virus spread. Hence, the panic! After all, COVID is a not-so-distant memory for most of us.

During the past week, hantavirus has become the internet’s latest “this could be the next pandemic” obsession. Social media posts are flying around. And updates on Hondius passengers are leading television newscasts, ahead of global conflict news. People are screenshotting and reposting new World Health Organization and CDC guidance documents out of context. Others are warning about lockdowns, national quarantine centers, and “airborne Ebola.”

So, let’s remove the hysteria from the equation by looking at the panic triggers and the much more calming realities of the hantavirus threat.

It’s alarming that the hantavirus can now be transmitted person to person!

In truth, the strain of hantavirus found on the M/V Hondius was always transmissible from person to person. It is, and has been, known to infectious disease experts as the Andes strain found in parts of South America. Unlike the strains more commonly found in the US, Andes virus can spread person-to-person under certain circumstances. In 2019 in Argentina, three cases became at least 29 after a birthday party. There were 11 deaths. That’s why the CDC and WHO are treating this outbreak carefully.

Virtually all Hondius passengers have been tracked after exposure. 36 people across the United States are considered “to have been exposed” during this outbreak. About half were exposed on the ship and the rest during air travel with passengers on the ship. Sixteen are in quarantine at the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. Two went to Emory University in Atlanta, and the rest are being monitored in their home states.

Not one of the Americans are positive for the virus. One gentleman, a doctor who stepped in for the ailing Hondius doctor, initially had an inconclusive test that was concerning. But he is currently hantavirus-free, and asymptomatic, in quarantine in Nebraska.

The point is, “can spread between people” is not the same thing as “spreads easily.” Cruise ships are floating close-exposure scenarios, where people share dining areas, lounges, hallways, and excursions. The guidance released by the CDC repeatedly focuses on prolonged close exposure: caregiving, shared living spaces, intimate contact, exposure to bodily fluids. This is not behaving like measles, influenza, or COVID-19, where casual exposure can quickly spread illness through entire communities.

The risk to the 36 Americans appears to be quite low. The risk of this outbreak getting to the rest of us? Virtually zero.

The 42-day incubation period proves that we don’t really know how this will spread!

That 42-day/six-week time frame is one of the pieces of information fueling online panic. It comes from the CDC’s recommendation that potentially exposed passengers be monitored for up to 42 days, which is what is happening in Nebraska. To many people, that sounds like proof something catastrophic is unfolding.

But it is protocol for public health agencies to monitor people for the outer edge of a virus’s incubation period. The incubation window for Andes virus can range from about 4 to 42 days, with symptoms most often appearing closer to two to three weeks after exposure. Raising alarm over a six-week incubation period may be catnip for doom scrollers. But long monitoring periods are about caution and surveillance, not proof of easy transmission.

It is worth noting that none of those being quarantined in Nebraska are required to stay. Exposed Americans (who currently have no symptoms) have the choice to return home to finish the 42-day incubation period (with restrictions). Doctors at the National Quarantine Unit highly encourage passengers to stay, as the facility offers world-class monitoring and rapid care in the event they develop symptoms. Quarantines sound frightening, but the flexible terms are a clear indication of very low risk.

Why is the virus being referred to as “airborne Ebola?”

Because scary headlines get attention. And, because people are mixing apples and oranges – confusing the hantavirus found in the Americas, with what is known as “old world” hantavirus.

Here’s a quick hantavirus history to give us some perspective:

In 1951, soldiers in Korea stationed along the Hantan River developed an illness that led to hemorrhagic fever and kidney disease (like Ebola, discovered 25 years later). By 1954, about 3,000 soldiers had been clinically diagnosed with this illness, and their common location gave it its name, hantavirus.

The discovery allowed researchers to retroactively identify hantavirus deaths and outbreaks during the first half of the 20th century, in Europe and Asia, always tied to rodents. Because the virus seemed to be limited to Europe and Asia, it became known as an “old world” virus. The virus would show up occasionally in the Americas in shipping ports, particularly on the East coast, but only in rodents that had crossed the ocean.

There seemed to be no hantavirus native to the Americas, until a deadly 1993 discovery proved otherwise.

That year, at least 15 people died from a mysterious disease in what is known as the “Four Corners” area, the point where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet. It turned out to be a hantavirus with a high fatality rate. The virus was linked to a specific type of rodent, deer mice. Scientists believed it had probably been sickening and killing people in the American West for centuries.

The “new world” virus behaved differently from its old-world counterpart. Instead of hemorrhagic fever and kidney disease, the newly identified virus caused severe cardiopulmonary issues. Hence, the high mortality rate.

The first Andes strain of the virus was identified in 2002 when a Chilean boy and his grandmother both died of the hantavirus. The grandson was initially asymptomatic and may have been infected by his grandmother who was originally infected by rodent exposure.

In late 2018 and early 2019, the Argentinian town of Epuyen saw one of the very few known clusters of human-to-human Andes virus infections. There were at least 29 cases and 11 deaths. The cluster didn’t spread outside Argentina. And it is worth noting this month’s Hondius outbreak is also believed to have originated in Argentina, possibly at a bird-watching excursion attended by the Dutch couple who brought it onboard.

So, let’s review. There is currently:

• No evidence of sustained community spread
• No evidence of easy casual transmission
• No evidence that the virus has mutated into something dramatically different
• No recommendation for widespread public restrictions or behavior changes

So why have we spent the last 1300 words discussing the Andes hantavirus?

Because the hantavirus is not COVID, but it is not nothing.

While we want to dispel any panic surrounding the latest hantavirus outbreak, its high profile is an opportunity to raise awareness for those most likely to run into this rare but deadly virus.

For most Americans, the primary hantavirus risk remains what it has always been: deer mouse exposure. An estimated 15 percent of deer mice carry the virus. And while deer mice are found just about everywhere in the continental US, the vast majority of hantavirus cases occur in the West, specifically in Colorado and New Mexico.

People are most often exposed while cleaning garages, sheds, cabins, barns, crawl spaces, campers, or storage areas where rodents have nested. And here’s the frustrating part: most people who get hantavirus never actually see a mouse.

The danger often comes from stirring up contaminated dust while sweeping or cleaning enclosed spaces. That’s why experts recommend opening windows, letting spaces air out, wearing gloves and an N95 mask, and spraying droppings with disinfectant before cleaning instead of sweeping or vacuuming them into the air.

There is currently no vaccine and no specific cure, which makes early medical care especially important.

Symptoms can start anywhere from one to six weeks after exposure and often begin like the flu: fever, fatigue, muscle aches, headaches, nausea, and chills. One clue doctors often mention is severe pain in the legs, hips, or lower back that doesn’t respond well to typical pain relievers. In more severe cases, fluid can rapidly build up in the lungs, leading to dangerous breathing problems that require immediate medical attention.

This is frustrating because these are symptoms common to so many ailments. If there is any chance you may have encountered rodent feces, and you develop flu-like symptoms, check with a medical provider. It could save your life.

The Bottom Line

The good news is that for the overwhelming majority of us, personal risk for the hantavirus remains very low. There is no recommendation to cancel travel, avoid public places, panic buy supplies, or assume another pandemic is around the corner.

It is worth understanding how the virus spreads, taking sensible precautions around rodents and enclosed dusty spaces, and resisting the urge to let social media turn every emerging infection into an apocalypse.

Because while some viruses can spread quickly, fear tends to spread even faster.