What is Hantavirus and how it spreads

The Centre for Disease Control says that the virus is spread mainly from rodents. It goes on to say that infection with any of the hantavirus can cause hantavirus disease in people.

Even when the world is trying to find a cure for the dreaded coronavirus pandemic, a report in Global Times said that a man from China’s Yunnan province died from Hantavirus while on a bus to the Shandong province.

All the fellow passengers on the bus have been tested for the virus.

What is Hantavirus?

The Centre for Disease Control says that the virus is spread mainly from rodents. It goes on to say that infection with any of the hantavirus can cause hantavirus disease in people.

“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),” the CDC website said.

The hantavirus case comes at a time when the total count of those infected by novel coronavirus globally is nearing the 400,000 mark and scientists are yet to find a cure for it. The global death toll has crossed the 16,500 mark.