Is Hantavirus the next COVID-like threat? Experts explain the real risks & warning signs you should never ignore

A recent hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship has triggered comparisons with the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, raising concerns online about whether another global health crisis could emerge. However, health experts have stressed that hantavirus and Covid-19 are very different diseases, with scientists saying the chances of a hantavirus pandemic remain significantly lower.

The outbreak involved the Andes strain of hantavirus, which is one of the few known variants capable of limited human-to-human transmission. Despite growing public attention, researchers and infectious disease specialists have sought to reassure people that the virus behaves very differently from Covid-19.

What Is Hantavirus?

Hantavirus is not a newly discovered disease. The virus was first identified among soldiers during the Korean War in the early 1950s and has since been regularly detected in parts of Asia, Europe and the Americas.


Unlike Covid-19, which emerged as a completely new coronavirus in late 2019, hantaviruses have been studied for decades and are already monitored in regions where outbreaks occasionally occur.

Humans usually become infected after exposure to saliva, urine or droppings from infected wild rodents. According to experts, inhaling contaminated dust particles remains the most common route of infection.

Andes Hantavirus Is Different From Most Strains

The recent outbreak involved the Andes strain, which is considered unusual because it can occasionally spread between humans.
Out of more than 30 known hantavirus species, Andes is currently the only strain scientifically confirmed to allow limited human-to-human transmission.

However, experts say such transmission remains extremely rare.

Virginie Sauvage, head of France’s National Reference Centre for Hantaviruses, told AFP that human transmission of Andes hantavirus “requires very specific conditions of close proximity, overcrowding, or an underlying health condition, far beyond what is known for other respiratory viruses”.

The last major outbreak linked to the Andes strain took place in Argentina in 2018, where at least 11 people reportedly died.

How Hantavirus Differs From Covid-19

While both illnesses can affect the respiratory system, experts say the two viruses behave very differently.

Covid-19 spread rapidly around the world because infected individuals could unknowingly transmit the virus before developing severe symptoms. In contrast, hantavirus infections tend to become serious much more quickly, making outbreaks easier to detect and contain.

The incubation period for Andes hantavirus ranges from one to six weeks, while Covid-19 symptoms generally appeared within seven to ten days after infection.

Hantaviruses found in the Americas can cause severe respiratory distress, heart complications and haemorrhagic fever. Covid-19, meanwhile, primarily affects the respiratory system and commonly causes fever, fatigue, body aches and breathing difficulties.

Experts Say Hantavirus Is Less Likely To Cause A Pandemic

Scientists believe one of the main reasons hantavirus is unlikely to trigger a pandemic is its high mortality rate and rapid progression.

Raul Gonzalez Ittig, a biologist at Argentina’s scientific research agency Conicet, told AFP that highly lethal viruses often struggle to spread widely because infected individuals become severely ill very quickly.

“For a pandemic to occur, the virus cannot be so lethal that it kills 50 percent of the population, because it quickly kills everyone and runs out of opportunities to spread,” he explained.

The Andes hantavirus is believed to have a mortality rate of around 40 percent.

“So deaths start appearing quickly, isolation measures are put in place quickly, and the chain of transmission is rapidly stopped,” Ittig told AFP.

He also pointed out that Covid-19 spread differently because infections increased rapidly long before deaths accumulated in large numbers.

No Specific Vaccine Or Treatment Yet

Currently, there are no approved vaccines or targeted antiviral treatments specifically designed for hantavirus infections.

Doctors mainly focus on managing symptoms and supporting organ function in severe cases.

“The faster people receive treatment, the better their prognosis,” Sauvage told AFP.

Patients suffering from severe lung complications may require ventilator support, while kidney failure cases could need dialysis treatment.

Researchers have conducted vaccine trials targeting certain hantavirus strains, but infectious disease specialist Vincent Ronin told AFP that their effectiveness “has not yet been proven against all hantaviruses”.

Health Experts Urge Calm

Although comparisons with Covid-19 have resurfaced online following the cruise ship outbreak, experts continue to emphasise that hantavirus does not currently pose the same level of global pandemic threat.

Scientists say existing knowledge about the virus, limited transmission patterns and rapid symptom development make widespread international spread far less likely compared to Covid-19.

Public health officials continue monitoring outbreaks closely, particularly in regions where hantavirus strains are already endemic.

Inputs from AFP