What Is The Hantavirus And Could It Affect Your Holiday?

Over the past few weeks, there has been a wealth of reporting surrounding an outbreak of hantavirus that has affected a Dutch cruise ship in the Canary Islands, with people planning on summer holidays asking their local travel pharmacy how this might affect them.

The outbreak, which has affected eight people and tragically killed three on the MV Hondius, is being carefully monitored at present due to the potential seriousness of the disease, with strict infection control measures and isolation protocols in place for those known to be affected.

With people naturally concerned about the potential for another epidemic or pandemic just six years after SARS-COV-2, people are wondering how this could potentially affect their travel plans.

At present, the UK government and experts in tropical diseases are exercising caution with existing cases but have noted that the risk to the general public is low, as hantavirus spreads in a very different way to previous outbreaks such as SARS, COVID-19 and influenza.

To explain why, it is important to explain what it is, how it is treated, what we know about the cruise ship outbreak, how it spreads and how to keep yourself safe this summer.

What Is Hantavirus?

The hantavirus is a group of rodent-borne viruses that range in severity from relatively mild to potentially life-threatening, as well as how they spread from rodent to person and from person to person.

Most hantaviruses, such as the Seoul hantavirus found in pet rats in the UK, very rarely spread from rodent to human and do not spread from person to person.

The variant on the cruise ship, the Andes hantavirus, is the most common viral strain in the world that can spread from person to person, although this is still rare.

Symptoms Of Hantavirus

Hantavirus can cause a range of symptoms, including:

• Fever
• Stomach pain
• Nausea
• Diarrhoe
• Vomiting
• Muscle pain
• Extreme tiredness
• Shortness of breath

These symptoms tend to appear two weeks after exposure, but sometimes can take over a month to emerge.

A much rarer but more serious symptom is hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome, a severe respiratory disease which causes severe breathing difficulties and must be treated as an emergency.

How Is Hantavirus Treated?

As a relatively rare disease, treatment is focused on taking care of symptoms, monitoring for any complications and supporting the body to fully recover.

How Does Hantavirus Spread?

Whilst hantavirus in general is very rare, it primarily spreads from contact with infected rats or areas contaminated by their droppings, typically by breathing in particulate matter. It can also spread through bites from rodents.

Human-to-human transmission of the Andes hantavirus spreads through close contact, but exactly how this occurs is still being researched. It is known to spread in family clusters, but is not as highly contagious as other diseases.

Could Hantavirus Affect Your Holiday?

At present, the chances of contracting hantavirus are extremely low according to the UK Government, World Health Organisation and TravelHealthPro, as it takes contact with infected rats or close contact with an infected person to contract the disease.

There are no official precautions when travelling other than to read trusted sources of information for any updates and check the travel advice for your holiday destination.