Hantavirus should not spark concern for general public, but ‘information changes all the time’

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Hantavirus should not spark concern for general public, but 'information changes all the time'

Northwestern infectious disease expert stresses the importance of public health systems like CDC, WHO

CHICAGO --- It has been more than 10 days since the MV Hondius cruise ship first reported an outbreak of Andes virus, a type of hantavirus, which has now killed three people and sickened several others.

Some are concerned this is going to be the next COVID-19 pandemic, but Northwestern Medicine infectious disease expert Dr. Michael Angarone said, "at this point, we shouldn't be nervous."

Still, he said, "information changes all the time," so it's important that the general public is following along with updates and that people in health care are aware of what's going on to sift through what might be true and what might be rumor.

"I think this outbreak is going to put a lot of stress on the remaining parts of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)," said Angarone, associate professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases and medical education at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "It's a test of the new relationship that we have with the World Health Organization (WHO) because the U.S. is not part of it. And I think we just have to see what's going to happen with that."

Angarone emphasized the importance of having the CDC and the WHO in place to respond to unpredictable situations and outbreaks.

"Anything can happen," he said. "I don't think if you were to poll people in public health or those in infectious disease and ask them if we would see a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship that anyone would've had that as a possibility unless they just randomly guessed."

To schedule an interview with Dr. Angarone, contact Kristin Samuelson. He can speak to reporters about:

• The virus' one- to eight-week incubation period
• How it's transmitted:
  • "I think the cruise ship is kind of a suitable environment for something like this to happen, even for a non-highly contagious virus, because people are in confined spaces for prolonged periods of time."
• The virus' symptoms, which include fever, body aches, some gastrointestinal upset and a cough
• What to do if you believe you were in contact with someone from the cruise ship
  • "If you have cold-like symptoms, go to your health care provider and let them know you're having a fever and body aches and that while it might just be the flu, tell them you were on a plane with one of the individuals who was on the ship, and ask if you should be doing more."
• What to do if you have respiratory symptoms similar to hantavirus but have not had close contact with anyone on the ship
  • "For everyone else, if you have those symptoms, go to your health care provider and ask to be tested for the flu or COVID, and that's probably what it is. I don't think the general population has to worry."