Is hantavirus the next COVID? Is the U.S. response on point? An outbreak update

Hantavirus particles in a color-enhanced micrograph image. Alfred Pasieka/Science Photo Library/via hide caption toggle caption Alfred Pasieka/Science Photo Library/via Public health authorities around the world are working to contain a hantavirus outbreak that started on a cruise ship in early April and has already claimed three lives. Despite a stream of alarmist headlines, the World Health Organization is emphasizing that the risk to the general public is very low. "I want to be unequivocal here. This is not the start of a COVID pandemic," said Maria Van Kerkhove, the director of epidemic and pandemic management at the WHO, speaking at a press conference on Thursday. "This is not COVID, this is not influenza. It spreads very, very differently." Here is the current information about the cruise ship passengers as well as what to know about this particular type of hantavirus and the U.S. response. The latest figures on the outbreak Eight cases have been reported — five confirmed by testing. The others are suspected cases. It's believed that the first person who fell ill came into contact with the virus before boarding the cruise. He and his wife "had been bird watching — not normally considered a hazardous sport — at a landfill outside of Ushuaia, Argentina," said Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, CEO of the Infectious Diseases Society of America at a press conference on Wednesday. …