Is hantavirus the new global pandemic? Things you need to know about the virus

The news about the death of a man in China due to hantavirus on Tuesday sent shockwaves in the nations already reeling under the coronavirus crisis.

Several users quickly logged in to the internet to find out what hantavirus is and would it become another global pandemic.

US-based Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has informed that the virus belongs to the family of hantaviruses and it spreads through rodents and causes hantavirus pulmonary syndrome or HP.

This virus is primarily present in rats in China.

The CDC further informed that the hantavirus is far from becoming a global pandemic and the disease is transmitted if someone breathes in contaminated air.

The CDC further revealed that hantavirus spreads as a result of close contact with rodent urine, saliva and droppings and the rare virus cannot be transmitted from one human to another.

HPS symptoms include fever, muscle ache, fatigue, dizziness – similar to those of influenza and coughing and shortening of breath can happen only when the infection reaches the lungs and fills it with liquid.

The CDC further informed that there is no vaccine for treating HPS and the infected person needs to be immediately rushed to the intensive care unit of a hospital.

“The sooner a person gets intensive care, he will get better,” the CDC informed.

Hantavirus

The Centre for Disease Control says that infection from any of the hantavirus can cause hantavirus disease in people. As per reports, the virus can cause Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) and Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome (HFRS). Media reports suggest that the virus can spread to people through contact with urine, feces, and saliva, and by a bite from an infected rodent. 

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 has claimed more than 19,600 lives across the world and has infected nearly 4,35,000 people globally since it first broke out in December 2019. China was the most affected country until last week, however, Italy and Spain have surpassed it to record the most number of deaths anywhere in the world due to COVID-19. The virus is believed to have originated from a seafood market in China's Wuhan city, the epicentre of the disease, where animals were reportedly being traded illegally.

As per the United States Centre for Disease Control, patients can feel headache, joint and lower back pain, nausea and vomiting as symptoms of hantavirus. The primary symptom is reportedly difficulty in breathing, which is caused by fluid build-up in the lungs, and which quickly progresses to an inability to breathe. Media reports suggest that the HPS symptoms take 2-4 weeks to appear, but it can also be detected as early as 1 week or as late as 6 weeks.