Hantavirus: Summary of the article
- Man died in China after tasted Positive for Hantavirus.
- 32 people were also tasted for Hantavirus.
- Hantavirus is not an Airborne virus, and it doesn’t spread by Person to person contact like Coronavirus.
- Hantavirus Spreads by specific kinds of Rodents.
“Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) killed a man in China, meanwhile, 32 others tested for HantaVirus, China’s Global Times reported.”
A person from Yunnan Province died while on his way back to Shandong Province for work on a chartered bus on Monday. He was tested positive for Hantavirus. Other 32 people on the bus were tested.
Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) is a severe, sometimes fatal, respiratory disease in humans caused by infection with a hantavirus. The news of the death of the Chinese man by Hantavirus, sparked panic on social media because people are already fighting against COVID-19 Coronavirus.
HOWEVER, Hantavirus is not a new virus. It already exists around the globe, and unlike Coronavirus, Hantavirus can not be transmitted from person to person. Remember that Hantavirus is not an Airborne Virus. It is only transmitted by inhaling urine/faeces fumes of infected rodents.
Remember: The disease is not airborne and can only spread to people if they come in contact with urine, faeces (feces), and saliva of rodents and less frequently by a bite from an infected host.
Four Kinds of Rodents are known to carry Hantavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): The Cotton Rat, White-footed mouse, rice rat and deer Mouse. Of those, only the deer Mouse is found in Washington State. Three rodents common in Washington don’t carry Hantavirus and they are shown in the picture below for comparison.
The deer Mouse prefers woodland and desert area. It is smaller than some rodents in The Area of United States, such as the Norway rat. Its fur tends to be lighter in colour than the house mouse, and unlike the house mouse, the deer Mouse has two-toned fur with a white belly.
Symptoms Of Hantavirus
The early symptoms of Hantavirus include, fever, Fatigue, headache, muscle aches, dizziness, chill and abdominal problems. If a person exposed to Hantavirus fails to get timely treatment, it can lead to coughing, shortness of breath and can be fatal, with a mortality rate of 38 percent according to CDC.
Hantaviruses in the Americas are known as “New World” hantaviruses and may cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). Other hantaviruses, known as “Old World” hantaviruses, are found mostly in Europe and Asia and may cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS).
Each hantavirus serotype has a specific rodent host species and is spread to people via aerosolized virus that is shed in urine, feces, and saliva, and less frequently by a bite from an infected host. The most important hantavirus in the United States that can cause HPS is the Sin Nombre virus, spread by the deer mouse.
Watch the complete details of Hantavirus, how it attacks and how to stay safe from this, in the video, below.