Notes on the Hantavirus Outbreak

Right now there’s a cruise ship parked outside Cabo Verde because of an outbreak of Andes virus. Yep, another cruise ship. I don’t get the appeal. It’s like a big open-air serial passage experiment: you get a bunch of old people with failing immune systems in close contact and race a pathogen through them. How much should I worry about this? Is this early January of 2020? I tried asking Claude but the biosecurity filter kept blocking my queries. The WHO says: Although uncommon, limited human‑to‑human transmission of HPS due to Andes virus has been reported in community settings involving close and prolonged contact. Secondary infections among healthcare workers have been previously documented in healthcare facilities, though remain rare. WHO currently assesses the risk to the global population from this event as low […] WHO advises against the application of any travel or trade restrictions based on the current information available on this event. So, hantavirus is the family. They…