Hantavirus: Everything You Need to Know! | This Morning

Added: 2026-05-13

[00:00:00]And until we see very few people had heard of Hivirus, but of course it has been in the headlines thanks to an outbreak on board the cruise ship NV Hondas.

[00:00:09]>> Uh well after being evacuated from the ship, 20 British passengers are now beginning 45 days of selfisolation in the UK following the three deaths linked to the virus. This comes as the World Health Organization say more cases are likely to emerge.

[00:00:26]>> So the question everyone's asking is should we be worried? Dr. Zoe's here to try and answer all the questions. Uh we'll come on to whether we should be worried, but where are we at the moment with the situation?

[00:00:35]>> Yeah. So, the the ship where the outbreak was is docked in Tenneref and people I think everyone's now off the ship, including the crew is the latest this morning and being repatriated. So, 20 Britons are currently quarantined in Arrow Park Hospital. They'll spend three days there and then they'll isolate at home for 42 days. There have been nine cases of hunter virus. Two, seven confirmed and two suspected um and sadly three people have died from it because it is a severe illness. Um and the most latest information we have is that actually there are five American people who are being isolated who are well being isolated who weren't on the cruise ship but because they were on a passenger plane with people who had been on the cruise ship as well. So deemed to have had that close contact. So contact tracing is a really important part of this because if you've had close sustained contact with somebody who is infected then it's kind of unusual this strain of hivirus that it can pass from human to human but it does require prolonged very close contact.

[00:01:40]>> So there are all different strains of hivirus. What are the differences and also what are the symptoms?

[00:01:47]>> Yes. So hivirus is a group of viruses that are typically carried by rats and mice. Um and they can infect humans. So when they infect humans, it's usually from the from the rat or the mice, it's their their droppings, their urine or their saliva which can get into air particles and we breathe it in. Most strains can't then progress from human to human. But this particular virus strain we're focusing on, the Andy strain, can. Usually it doesn't. It's quite rare that it does. Um but it can and it can cause severe illness. The key thing about it is the the incubation period the period between being infected and getting symptoms tends to be several weeks between two and four weeks but it can be up to eight weeks. So that's why this containment and isolation is really important. But I think the key thing people are worried about is is this going to be another COVID pandemic? And the reason that it's absolutely not is because it's nowhere near as transmissible. is more in line with the recent menitis outbreak in terms of transmissibility than COVID. So by close contact, what does that mean? So if you've share a bed with somebody, if you share a cabin with somebody on this ship, um if you've sat next to somebody for eight hours on a long haul flight, that would count as close contact. If you did a bus journey with somebody or school or at work or you know walked past somebody in an airport, you wouldn't contract it with that >> treatment. There is no treatment or vaccine for Hanta virus yet. It's something that's being worked on. So that's why if people do become unwell, they need to be in hospital and receive supportive care. And actually that period of being infected and then weeks before symptoms start, the symptoms initially tend to be flu-l like symptoms. So fever, fatigue, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, but it can progress over one to two days to very severe illness. And this type of antivirus tends to cause what's called cardopulmonary syndrome. So fluid collects in the lungs and causes a pneumonia like illness.

[00:03:41]>> So do we need to be worried? Essentially >> we don't need to be worried unless you've had close prolonged contact with somebody who was on that ship or somebody who's had prolonged close contact with somebody who was in that ship. All those people have been contacted and are being isolated and given advice. Then you know for people like us we don't need to worry. this is not something that's going to spread in the way that measles or COVID or flu does. It's much much much less transmissible than that. So, the risk to the general public um the UK health security agency have said is extremely low. Um but I think it's it is concerning because obviously we're hearing all those words like isolation and quarantine and >> no cure, no vaccination.

[00:04:21]>> It just it just brings it all back. But I think the concern with this particular outbreak is the severity of the disease rather than how contagious it is.

[00:04:30]>> Okay, >> Zoe, thank you. Good to see >> very much.