While the world is still finding a solution to skip pandemic Coronavirus, China has already found another deadly virus named Hantavirus.
What is hantavirus?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), hantaviruses are a family of viruses that are spread mainly by rodents (rats) and can cause varied diseases in people. It can cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS).
How it spread
The disease is not airborne. It can only spread to people if they come in contact with urine, faeces, and saliva of rodents and less frequently by a bite from an infected host.
Symptoms of hantavirus
Early symptoms of HPS include fatigue, fever, and muscle aches, along with headaches, dizziness, chills and abdominal problems. If left untreated, it can lead to coughing and shortness of breath and can be fatal, with a mortality rate of 38 per cent, according to CDC.
While the initial symptoms of HFRS too remain the same, it can cause low blood pressure, acute shock, vascular leakage, and acute kidney failure. HPS can’t be passed on from person to person, while HFRS transmission between people is extremely rare.
How to prevent it
As per the CDC, rodent population control is the primary strategy for preventing hantavirus infections.