Hantavirus in US—How Dangerous is This Rodent-Borne Disease?
United States: A medical examination confirmed that the late actor Gene Hackman suffered from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and advanced Alzheimer’s disease at the time of his death, whereas medical authorities indicated he lost his wife through “hantavirus pulmonary syndrome” (HPS).
About Hantaviruses
According to molecular virologist Dr. Rhys Parry at the University of Queensland in Australia, hantaviruses represent a virus group that spreads primarily through rodents to produce serious respiratory and renal illnesses in humans.
HPS is a condition that Hackman’s wife contracted from one of the many hantaviruses discovered in North, Central, and South America, as stated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
According to the CDC, “The hantaviruses that are found throughout the United States are not known to spread between people,” Fox News reported.
For patients who become infected with HPS, this disease leads to the death of approximately 40% of them, based on information from the cited source.
How does the disease spread?
“Hantaviruses typically spread when humans breathe in virus particles from disturbed rodent urine, droppings or nesting materials,” as Parry noted.
The CDC has recognized various patterns through which this pathogen spreads.
Human beings risk infection from hantaviruses through contact with dusty airborne rodent waste during cleanup activities.
The disease spreads when people handle contaminated objects and place their hands on their mouth or nose.
A person can develop an infection by allowing rodents to bite or scratch them, as Fox News reported.
When people consume food that contains hantavirus microorganisms.
What more are the experts stating?
According to Dr. Marc Siegel, who holds the position of clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Health and serves as a Fox News senior medical analyst, hantavirus transmission occurs through rodent-derived dust that also contains saliva and urine and pathogen contact areas.
According to the doctor, deer mice are the primary carriers of this virus throughout the United States.
Most hantavirus cases occur in rural zones because the Centers for Disease Control observes rodents more readily enter houses and barns in those locations.
Hantavirus infections are “incredibly rare,” according to both the experts.
“This is a pretty sad set of circumstances,” Parry mentioned.
“I’m honestly impressed they were able to determine it was HPS after the fact,” he noted.
Furthermore, as Siegal maintained, the disease rarely affects humans “because only some of the rodents have it, and they don’t all come into contact — but one-third to one-half of cases are fatal.”
