Hantavirus mess and traveling

[LuvOrlando]

My DD and BF are supposed to be headed to Spain in the next week, what awful timing with this new Hantavirus mess. What are people supposed to do who are traveling? Where is the guidance?

https://www.the-sun.com/news/16341275/cruise-passenger-rat-virus-infected-flight/

Also, is it really too much to expect world healthcare authorities to have learned at least SOMETHING that resembles intelligence to be harnessed into creating at least a basic protocol for such things after H1N1 2009 & Covid 2020?

The world plainly is super connected and there are all sorts of ways different unexpected unimaginably random health crises can unfold. It can't be true that it's still all catch-up, spray and pray.

I can't figure which is more alarming, the fact there is a new threat washing over the globe or the plain bubbling idiocy and inability for world healthcare "experts" to get their arms around the next one, this is the next one. It's as if it never happened before, and yet it did and only 6 years ago.

Meanwhile it is Memorial Day next week, summer vacations are a heartbeat away and people will be swarming all over the globe then returning home, including my kid. I wanna travel, and yet this mess...

 

[hardcorestitch]

I don’t want to hear the headline “Disneyland to close for remainder of year due to hantavirus”

 

[kdonnel]

https://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/situation-summary/index.html

The hantavirus is not covid 19.

 

[EACarlson]

Are you planning on spending a lot of time around garbage landfills and breathing in rodent waste? That's how you get Hantvirus, there is a very limited person to person transmission, but nowhere near the transmissability of H1N1 or COVID.

 

[DeeBee3]

This is not something to stress over unless you are doing what the above poster mentions, or you are a rodent.

 

[easyas123]

Welp, besides the above good advise and common sense I'll add that this has been around for a minimum of centuries (that we know of) and yet people continue to successfully traverse the Country and World via boat, plane, horse & carriage and SUV and so will I.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Tell them to have a great time in Spain and if they express concern about this thing remind them they more likely to be hit by lightning than get the rodent virus.

 

[LuvOrlando]

OK, for those of you catching up. There are different kinds of hantavirus, there are small incidents every now and then. We had it in PA years ago, at that time I think it was said it was from cleaning out cabins where rodents had wintered and that hunters should have a heads up. PA has lots of hunters, wasn't a shock but mental note to wear a mask when cleaning the garage seemed reasonable.

Time moves on, when I first read about this story around 2 weeks ago I thought, "Wow, cruise lifestyle strikes again," and ignored it. Even when my SIL texted I shrugged. But then as the number grew a bit I agree it seemed odd, the boat was a bit iffy looked like a ferry not a lux place, maybe there were rodents onboard? Still, if you need to be on top of the droppings even a boat issue is self limiting.

Now turns out that the missing part of the general knowledge part of the story is that there in ONE kind of Hantavirus that spreads outside direct rodent contact. This one kind is Andes. Guess which one this is?

 

[LuvOrlando]

Also, while it is great the US is on top of the people - or so it appears, this does not account for what goes on in other countries and travelers are going to be visiting these places,then returning home.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/heal...avirus-new-case-suspected-remote-i-rcna344191

It would be useful to hear about general things to be done to avoid it

It will never get to Covid level of transmissibility, as the Common cold is probably one of the most infectious things out there. This germ is in the same family as Ebola but with this I think only lungs bleed out, which is pretty gross so still a no thanks.

 

[tennisfan]

Its an expedition cruise ship, so smaller in nature as it allows them to go to places the other cruise ships can. The Andes variant originates from where the cruise started.

Hantavirus has been around for years as mentioned in a previous post. I personally wouldn't be worried. Its spread by prolonged contact with someone. This isn't a new threat, its epidemic in nature but not pandemic.

 

[PollyannaMom]

...there in ONE kind of Hantavirus that spreads outside direct rodent contact. This one kind is Andes. Guess which one this is?

Yes, this one can spread from person to person, but from what I've heard/read, it's much less efficient at spreading that way than, say, Covid-19. I think it's more of a "needs close contact for a long time" virus than a "sneeze closer than six-feet-away" virus.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Yes, this one can spread from person to person, but from what I've heard/read, it's much less efficient at spreading that way than, say, Covid-19. I think it's more of a "needs close contact for a long time" virus than a "sneeze closer than six-feet-away" virus.

Yes, but 2 stories of people who got it on a flight are unnerving.

In one story it is mentioned that a person from Spain got it from a flight. In an earlier story, I read a Dutch KLM flight attendant got it also from a flight - sick and negative but I think still being tested as it is a long incubation

Also, there were a bunch of people, maybe 40, no-one was watching who got off the ship in St Helena, where the very first person who got it's wife disembarked with his body. So while it is good that the final disembarkation at Canary Islands was controlled, there was another uncontrolled disembarkation.

Hopefully no-one was sick but guidance seems appropriate.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health...ut-the-hantavirus-outbreak-on-the-cruise-ship

 

[BrianL]

Yes, this one can spread from person to person, but from what I've heard/read, it's much less efficient at spreading that way than, say, Covid-19. I think it's more of a "needs close contact for a long time" virus than a "sneeze closer than six-feet-away" virus.

Yeah, it just doesn't spread as easily as something like COVID. That's not to say that the risk is ever zero, but I'd be more worried about getting it from Krusty brand gum:

 

[lanejudy]

This isn't exactly new news, you admit you ignored it previously. The ship does not/did not have rodents; it is believed the originating couple were exposed pre-cruise during a bird-watching excursion. Yes it has spread person-to-person to a few others onboard, but that must have been very close contact and not simply sitting in the same theater or dining room.

For general travel I would not be any more concerned about hantavirus than any other standard precautions to avoid illness when traveling.

ETA: The individuals did not contract hantavirus during the flight, rather the symptoms developed during the flight. Exposure was pre-flight, likely days earlier.

 

[EACarlson]

To expound on @lanejudy's post. It is believed the patient zero was exposed during a pre cruise bird watching excursion at a landfill. Incubation period is weeks. Unless you're going an expedition cruise, I wouldn't be concerned about it.

 

[kdonnel]

Yes, but 2 stories of people who got it on a flight are unnerving.

The only people who have been infected are passengers or crew from the ship.

Lots of false reporting.

https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2026-DON600

 

[citruscurtis]

What ever happened to Pink eye.... just googled that... now that is contagious stuff

 

[LuvOrlando]

The only people who have been infected are passengers or crew from the ship.

Lots of false reporting.

https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2026-DON600

I'm not paying any attention at all to WHO, they were such a menace with Covid - lesson learned.

I would like The US to step up for Americans and if the Feds are too twitchy maybe some different State's with a lot of travelers and tourists that visit will do so. I know Massachusetts went it's one way with some vaccination issues this past winter.

 

[easyas123]

OP- please, take a moment to actually digest some of the news reports, the quotes below are all information widely available-

ETA: The individuals did not contract hantavirus during the flight, rather the symptoms developed during the flight. Exposure was pre-flight, likely days earlier.

To expound on @lanejudy's post. It is believed the patient zero was exposed during a pre cruise bird watching excursion at a landfill. Incubation period is weeks. Unless you're going an expedition cruise, I wouldn't be concerned about it.

The only people who have been infected are passengers or crew from the ship.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I'm not super concerned just yet. But I am definitely paying attention.

It sucks it took them so long to figure out what it was and that 30 or so people left the cruise early and could have unknowingly spread it around. If they did, I'm sure we'll be seeing more cases pop up but I think it's still too early to know.

There is one woman who left the cruise early and I believe came home to California. After they found out it was Hante, she was told to limit her exposure and whatnot. But what did she do? She flew to some island somewhere and ignored them! People like that really make me mad. So freaking selfish. I believe she is showing symptoms now and I think testing positive and is being held in isolation now. Finally. But so irresponsible of her!

I'm thankful this doesn't spread as easily as things like Covid and the Flu. I just hope our currently very inept CDC can get control of it so it doesn't become a problem for the general public.

I'm glad some of the U.S. passengers have been taken to UNMC in Omaha. I hope they stay for a while and aren't just immediately sent home though.