Just six years after the start of the COVID-19 “pandemic,” people across the globe are being treated to non-stop coverage of something known as the Hantavirus.
Why all the attention? 7 deaths, 23 more cases, and 12 countries exposed to the virus and because symptoms can take weeks to appear, infected passengers may have unwittingly traveled across borders before realizing they’re sick.
What is Hantavirus?
According to Dr. McCullough’s substack:
Hantaviruses are a group of viruses of the family Hantaviridae, order Bunyavirales, with the primary human-pathogenic species classified under the genus Orthohantavirus. The rodent-borne viruses are known to cause severe diseases, including Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) in the Americas and Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome (HFRS) in Eurasia.
Symptoms of hantavirus infection can include fever, extreme fatigue, muscle aches, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, and shortness of breath. In some cases, people develop severe breathing difficulties requiring hospitalization. Symptoms usually appear between 2 to 4 weeks after being exposed to the virus, but there are reports of symptoms occurring up to 40 days after exposure.
In particular, the strand on the cruise ship has been identified as the so-called “Andes” strain:
Laboratory testing of samples from the ship confirmed the strain as Andes virus (Andes orthohantavirus), a New World hantavirus endemic to southern South America (primarily Argentina and Chile) and carried by the long-tailed pygmy rice rat (Oligoryzomys longicaudatus).
Should We Be Concerned?
Unlike most strains, Andes hantavirus has been shown to spread person-to-person. Add that to a confined ship, shared air systems, and weeks of silent incubation, and you have a perfect storm.
Dr. McCullough, who was an early and vocal critic of the response to COVID, believes the current response to dealing with this outbreak is also concerning:
During the pandemic I recall the WHO and other public health agencies making every wrong move in terms of action steps. Now the same is playing out on the MV Hondius hantavirus outbreak.
In particular, Dr. McCullough is concerned – and rightly so – that the response here may actually be increasing the likelihood of further transmission:
“When confined within ventilation and recirculated air systems… aerosolized transmission becomes an urgent concern.”
— Dr. Peter A. McCullough
