A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Public health authorities in South Africa said today they identified the strain of hantavirus in two people who were on the Dutch cruise ship where the infection killed three passengers. To get a better understanding of this virus, we called Dr. Celine Gounder. She's a professor of medicine and infectious diseases at New York University and editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News. Doctor, briefly, what is hantavirus and what are its symptoms?
CELINE GOUNDER: Sure. Hantavirus is a family of viruses that's carried by rodents. People usually get infected when they're breathing in dust contaminated with mouse or rat droppings, urine or saliva. And most infections occur when someone disturbs a rodent-contaminated space. So they might be cleaning out a shed, opening up a building that's been closed for a while, sweeping the basement. And the syndrome that this causes is hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome. So it starts with a fever, headaches and muscle aches, but this can progress quite rapidly to severe breathing problems, heart failure and shock. Depending on the type of the virus, between 10% and 50% of people who develop that severe form can die.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. And what's known about how widespread this outbreak is on this ship and how the passengers were infected?
GOUNDER: So we know that about eight people have been affected. We have three patients who have died. One remains in intensive care in South Africa. Another has been hospitalized in Zurich. And the ship's doctor was also seriously ill and being transported by plane to the Canary Islands, and another has reported a mild fever. Everyone is being monitored for symptoms now, and they are going to be doing testing.
In terms of how this was transmitted, that - we're not still 100% sure if this was a common exposure. This is a trip of people who were doing bird-watching and other wildlife activities, so trips to islands where you had birds and rodents who could potentially have been a source here. But the other unique thing about this virus is that it's a form of hantavirus, the Andes virus, which has been shown to spread person to person in past outbreaks.
MARTÍNEZ: And would just two people need to be standing next to each other, maybe speaking? Is that how they would catch it, or what? Would they have to touch each other? What would be the way?
GOUNDER: When we've seen human-to-human transmission with the Andes virus, it has been very close, prolonged contact. So, for example, a husband and wife. This is not casual contact like we have exposure to COVID or flu, where it can just be somebody you're in the same room with. This really needs to be much more prolonged and more close contact in order to result in transmission.
MARTÍNEZ: Any treatment for this?
GOUNDER: There are no specific antiviral treatments for hantavirus, so it's entirely supportive care - things like oxygen, IV fluids, needing to be in on a mechanical ventilator and, in the most severe cases, ECMO, which is a machine that takes over the work of the heart and lungs.
MARTÍNEZ: And really quick, I mean, how worried should travelers be about this outbreak?
GOUNDER: This is, again, not like COVID or flu. This is not going to cause a pandemic. So unless...
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
GOUNDER: ...You have had direct exposure to rodents or one of the passengers, this is really not of concern for the general public.
MARTÍNEZ: Infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist Celine Gounder is also editor-at-large for public health with NPR's partner KFF Health News. Doctor, thanks.
GOUNDER: My pleasure.
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