Everything you need to know about hantavirus in 6 minutes

Added: 2026-05-11

[00:00:00]With news of Americans from that cruise ship testing positive for HANA virus, concerns about summer travel are growing and uh we're talking about those fears with infectious disease. Dr. Ihab Ahmed.

[00:00:11]Dr. Amed, thank you for being with us this morning. We really appreciate. I want to start off with this HA virus topic. Can you run us through exactly what it is and how it is spread?

[00:00:22]>> Yeah, it's a virus that is usually acquired um through exposure to rodent droppings or urine. Um, most commonly in the United States, it's found in the four corners region. So, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, that corner area. And most commonly, it's going to be exposure when somebody's cleaning a shed or an enclosed area um that may have dried urine or rodent droppings in it. Um the specific variant that they're looking at right now with this outbreak is um what we call the Andes variant which is most commonly found in Argentina, South America and that's the only one that really has ever shown human to human transmission. So the risk in the United States is really quite low.

[00:01:07]>> Okay. Okay. This particular strain can pass from human to human. We understand there are two individuals. They they are being quarantined right now in Omaha, Nebraska. Okay. For those folks who are who are having flashbacks right now to the start of the pandemic, what would be your message to them?

[00:01:26]>> My message to them is really you don't need to worry. Um this is again very low risk in terms of transmission. It requires close contact for uh longer periods of time. Um and those folks are already in quarantine. So the general risk to uh the public is quite low.

[00:01:46]Compared to CO 19, there's a much uh much less risk of spread.

[00:01:52]>> Okay, that's very reassuring to hear. Um what are the symptoms that folks should be aware of? And um how would you know it's haunt virus as opposed to something else? Is does that require a specific test?

[00:02:07]>> Yeah. So yeah, it does. And in the beginning, just like most viral illnesses, you're not going to really be able to know what it is. It's going to start off with general flu-l like symptoms. So, fatigue, fever, muscle aches. Um, later on, it can develop into what we call pulmonary antivirus syndrome. Um, in which case you start to feel the respiratory symptoms. So, the coughing, the shortness of breath. And at that point again, you're not going to know if it's HANA virus versus some other viral infection, even the influenza. So the only way to know would be to get tested at that point. But as I mentioned, you know, the general risk is so low that unless you're in an endemic area like that four corners area and you've had very specific exposures either to cleaning a shed where there may have been droppings or urine from a mouse or a rat uh or you happen to be on that very specific cruise uh I don't think it's something that the average person should be too concerned about.

[00:03:08]>> Okay, that's reassuring. Uh Dr. Ahmed, you mentioned this four corners area.

[00:03:12]Have there been cases in the past just out of curiosity in the course of US history in recent decades where folks will contract the virus in that area and it just goes nowhere in terms of a pandemic?

[00:03:23]>> Yeah. Yeah. And uh I mean yes for sure there have been cases the most famously not specifically in the four corners region but you had uh the actor who passed away Jean Hackman >> right >> and and his wife. So that was another example where you know the suspected source was mouse or rodent droppings within their home.

[00:03:44]>> Okay.

[00:03:44]>> And they passed away through that and again that didn't go anywhere. It was isolated to those two individuals living in that home.

[00:03:51]>> Right. Right. Thanks for the reminder there. I want to talk about norovirus as well. As long as we're talking about the cruise ship situation. We're reporting that a cruise ship uh there's been an outbreak of Noro virus. Uh just wondering from you what the risk is here in terms of cruises and if you are on vacation if you're in confined space whether it's a cruise ship a hotel whatever how do people best protect themselves while they are traveling.

[00:04:15]>> Yeah these are great questions. So we say in medicine common things are common. So the same things that are common outside of a cruise ship are just going to be more common due to the enclosed space and the shared surfaces in in a cruise ship. So uh and also the shared meals. So um respiratory viruses things like colds um are going to be more common there just because of the exposure. And then again neuroirus as you mentioned or uh things that can be passed through you know fecal oral contamination meaning uh someone may have stool on their hands and didn't quite wash it as well as they should have and now they've touched another surface. somebody else has touched that surface, touched their mouth, ingested it and goes on that way.

[00:05:00]So the most important thing that anybody can do is obviously to wash your hands.

[00:05:04]Um wash your hands, uh use hand sanitizer. Um if there is somebody that you know is sick, it's best to avoid them. If you yourself are sick, it's best to avoid others. So very common sense things. Those are the best ways to prevent the spread of viruses on a c on a cruise ship or anywhere. But more uh crucially when you're in a confined space >> on a cruise ship one more really quickly because we're we're getting short on time Dr. Amed but if you were on a cruise ship how many times a day would you wash your hands >> honestly um I would wash my hands before eating after I use the bathroom and then anytime I touch what we call um a high uh contact surface. So something that multiple individuals are touching uh like a handrail before I touch my face or my mouth or eat >> I should be washing my hands or using hand sanitizer.

[00:05:58]>> Yeah, good reminders. Okay, Dr. Yab Ahmed, thank you very much for joining us this morning with those common sense tips. We appreciate a lot.

[00:06:06]>> You're welcome.