Hantavirus outbreak will not be anything like Covid-19; here's why

Since the breakout of Hantavirus on the MV Hondius, there have been speculated fears of the world repeating another cycle of pandemic. To debunk the myth, it is very unlikely to happen, health experts have assured.

New emerging cases are sending some people on an unpleasant spiral and making them compare it to Covid-19 which killed more than 8 million people in the year 2021. 

While the disease caused by the rodent-borne Hantavirus is equally serious but has a very different infectious profile to coronavirus. 

It is very likely the disease won’t upgrade itself to an uncontrollable pandemic, experts have found out.

As of May 15, the Aedes strain of Hantavirus has killed three people and infected 11 others on the Dutch-flagged vessel sailing across the Atlantic. Following the disembarking of 147 passengers and crew at the Canary Island (Spain), the ship has started to sail towards the Netherlands for disinfection.

While the danger still lurks around the corner, the United Nations agency and World Health Organisation have called this outbreak scoring low on public health risk.

The global health watchdog has noted the virus can only be transmitted through an ‘intimate’ or a very close contact with those infected.

Coronavirus versus Hantavirus

Both Aedes strains of Hantavirus and Coronavirus can cause significant cardiopulmonary distress in people but they differ in the way they attack and invade the healthy cells.

Hantavirus primarily targets the cells of the blood vessels, particularly in the lungs and kidneys, causing vascular leakage. 

As per experts, Hantavirus doesn’t have an elaborate history of surveillance and only the Aedes strain is known to have potency to spread between people.

In other words, it requires more than standing a few feet apart to catch the Hantavirus.

Speaking to DH, Dr. Aishwarya R, a consultant in Infectious Diseases at Aster Hospital (Whitefield, Bengaluru) said: “We primarily know much about the American strain associated with pulmonary illness and the European or Asian strain known to cause renal symptoms. The former being associated with a higher fatality rate up to 35 percent. The strains prevalent in our regions affect a low pool of people who had an established exposure to the rodent. Apart from Aedes strain, others are not found to spread between humans.”

However, the coronavirus targets the lining of the lung cells, causing damage to the alveolar tissue. Also, it grades very high on potency and can spread quickly between people who are 3 to 6 feet apart.

The key difference between Hantavirus and Coronavirus is their ability to replicate inside the host cells.

Hantavirus has a sluggish, inefficient process of multiplying inside a healthy cell and needs some extra calculated steps to do so. This explains its long incubation period that can extend up to 6 weeks.

Coronavirus, on the other hand, gets easily translated by the host cell and it quickly starts to reproduce. Hence, the time between exposure and emergence of symptoms is somewhere between 2 to 14 days.

This shows an evident difference in the virality rate for both pathogens that can cause serious illness in people.

Won’t rise to be a pandemic

As per Stanford Medicine, Hantavirus is a zoonotic disease which originates in animals, particularly wild rodents but can cause disease in human beings. A person gets infected only when they accidentally inhale the particles from the droppings or saliva of these rodents, particularly through the invisible aerosol during dusting an area or simply cleaning.

“There has to be a direct or indirect context of exposure with the rodent in any case of Hantavirus. Even in this outbreak, there must be one, maybe the ship or a possible exposure to the rodent somewhere else. It's not in the primary nature of this infection to spread between humans. As for the Aedes strain, it can only be transmitted if there is an intimate contact like sharing places or coming in very close contact to the bodily fluids of the infected person. The potency for this virus remains very low,” said Dr Aishawariya. 

The expert said it could also spread in case of prolonged exposure to the infected person in a poorly ventilated place. 

Coronavirus, however, spreads efficiently through the air and respiratory droplets and within minutes of exposure.

As of now, Andes virus can only cause contained outbreaks as seen in the case of MV Hondius.

As per a study, the two infections intercept in causing some common infections like respiratory illness or flu-like symptoms. 

People with coronavirus experience mild to moderate symptoms and severe disease tends to develop between days to weeks.

Unlike coronavirus, people having Hantavirus quickly progress to cardiopulmonary phase and without medical intervention can die within 24 to 48 hours from the onset of respiratory distress.