Hantavirus. Some dread disease, mysterious, lethal, blah-blah-blah. The usual Apocalypse.
Hantavirus is endemic in many locations, including the American Southwest. That means it simmers there. It exists in rodents, and the virus is found in their feces and urine. Occasionally people get sick from it – and sometimes someone dies. This has been going on for decades. A handful of people get sick.
Hantavirus is not particularly infectious. Even the Andean strain of Hantavirus isn’t very contagious. Unlike the American variety, Andean Hantavirus can be transmitted from person to person – but it require close contact.
Most of the news outlets say that there have been three fatalities, with 11 confirmed cases. There is one more patient who is said to be critical. Four patients, out of a total of 11 cases. Eleven cases, out of a population of 122 people who were unavoidably crowded together on a cruise ship.
It is true that Hantavirus is contagious and potentially lethal. It’s not a trivial illness. But it certainly isn’t creating anything remotely like a pandemic.
The news media make their money by causing powerful emotions in people. Sometimes it’s anger and outrage; sometimes it’s fear. Nothing like an illness to scare people, since we’re all kind of frazzled by the COVID pandemic. But hantavirus is not a pandemic.
Hantavirus
Hantavirus. Some dread disease, mysterious, lethal, blah-blah-blah. The usual Apocalypse.
Hantavirus is endemic in many locations, including the American Southwest. That means it simmers there. It exists in rodents, and the virus is found in their feces and urine. Occasionally people get sick from it – and sometimes someone dies. This has been going on for decades. A handful of people get sick.
Hantavirus is not particularly infectious. Even the Andean strain of Hantavirus isn’t very contagious. Unlike the American variety, Andean Hantavirus can be transmitted from person to person – but it require close contact.
Most of the news outlets say that there have been three fatalities, with 11 confirmed cases. There is one more patient who is said to be critical. Four patients, out of a total of 11 cases. Eleven cases, out of a population of 122 people who were unavoidably crowded together on a cruise ship.
It is true that Hantavirus is contagious and potentially lethal. It’s not a trivial illness. But it certainly isn’t creating anything remotely like a pandemic.
The news media make their money by causing powerful emotions in people. Sometimes it’s anger and outrage; sometimes it’s fear. Nothing like an illness to scare people, since we’re all kind of frazzled by the COVID pandemic. But hantavirus is not a pandemic.