Yunnan, China, March 26, 2020 — cyberinktimes.com — The English-language Chinese news outlet Global Times reported on Monday that a man in Yunnan, China died and tested positive for a hantavirus. This has immediately stirred public
concern as many people worry that another pandemic might come as the world
grapples with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Global Times’ tweet: “He was tested positive for #hantavirus. Other 32 people on bus were tested,” has been shared by more than 15,000
times on Twitter alone.
Misleading messages about a
coronavirus-like disease has also circulated fast online through WhatsApp and
Facebook. “When the whole world is
still suffering from Covid-19, here comes another virus…” one message in
WhatsApp reads, according to a UK-based digital news website.
But according to experts, the
warnings are “overexaggerated” because hantavirus is not new at all and is not comparable
to the new coronavirus. The U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explained that “hantaviruses are a family
of virus that spread through rodents.” It has already been known for
decades but its cases are very rare.
The virus is not easily pass between
humans as it only spread as a result of close contact with rodents’ bodily
fluids like urine, droppings or saliva. “Rare cases in Chile and
Argentina have seen person-to-person transmission when a person is in close
contact with someone sickened by a type of hantavirus called Andes virus.”
said CDC on its website. Experts say that despite the
fact that hantaviruses are found across the Americas, Europe and Asia, the
regions lead to different syndromes and symptoms.
The early symptoms of
hantavirus include fatigue, fever and muscle aches and its mortality rate is
38%.
Sources
- Hantavirus: The Next Pandemic We Are Waiting For? – PMC – NIH
- WHO head tells countries to prepare for more hantavirus cases
