When news emerged over the weekend that three people on board a cruise ship died following a suspected hantavirus outbreak, people across the world began to wonder: is this something we should be worried about? <\/p>\n
Though haunted by the memories of Covid-19, which began as whispers of cases internationally before spreading worldwide and closing down large parts of society for about two years, by and large the general public do not need to be concerned about widespread cases of hantavirus, say experts.<\/p>\n
Dr Eoghan de Barra, a senior lecturer at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) and consultant in infectious diseases at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, said hantavirus outbreaks are still \u201cvery rare\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re okay. Overall, in a global picture, it\u2019s a very rare thing,\u201d he said, his comments chiming with both the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the HSE, which have described the risk as \u201clow\u201d.<\/p>\n
What is hantavirus? <\/p>\n
It\u2019s a group of viruses that normally circulate in rodents.<\/p>\n
De Barra said the \u201cmajority\u201d of cases are typically found <\/b>in Asia and Europe (except for Ireland, the UK, the Mediterranean coastal regions and the northernmost areas) and this variant has a case fatality rate of between 1 and 15 per cent. <\/p>\n
In the Americas, particularly North America, the fatality rate can be much higher, at around 34 per cent, he added.<\/p>\n
However, de Barra said Argentinian authorities have been \u201cringing a bell over this\u201d, due to increasing cases reported there, as well as increased mortality rates in recent months.<\/p>\n
What are the details of the outbreak?<\/p>\n
The WHO said the seven confirmed or suspected cases comprise three people who have died, one \u200cwho \u200cis \u200bcritically ill and three with mild symptoms.<\/p>\n
The three fatalities were a Dutch couple and a German national, while a British national was evacuated from the ship and is in intensive care in South Africa, officials said.<\/p>\n