Hantaviruses, named after a river in South Korea, are a family of more than twenty different viral species. Almost all are linked to infection by rodents, typically rats and mice, through dried urine and droppings.
One strain, however, known as the Andes virus, is thought to spread by human-to-human transmission, although rarely. In late 2018, an outbreak in Argentina was traced back to a single person who is thought to have unwittingly spread it to 34 confirmed cases, with 11 deaths.
Who’s worried?
As I’m sure you know, a cruise ship called the MV Hondius has recently made headlines because of another suspected hantavirus outbreak onboard that has killed three people so far and made several others very sick. Health officials in at least a dozen countries are now monitoring dozens of passengers who disembarked from the ship before the outbreak was fully understood; at least seven of them are Americans who returned home.
Should you be worried?
Since hantavirus is difficult for humans to transmit, one health official assured us, “There’s no need for concern over a global outbreak.” According to another, “There’s really no risk to anyone who is not on that ship.”
But in a metaphorical sense, we’re all on that “ship.” From Ted Turner’s death to Jeffrey Epstein’s possible suicide note to tornadoes that devastated southern Mississippi and a deadly volcano eruption, mortality is in the headlines today. As it will be again tomorrow.
Here’s why this news is not such bad news for believers.
Full story.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written and originally published by the Denison Forum.
