Could the hantavirus spark the next pandemic?

The recent hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship was caused by a “New World” hantavirus from the Andes. Naturally found in rodents, hantaviruses are harmless to rodents but can cause severe illness and even death in humans, with no known treatment as of yet.

Professor Leo Yee Sin and Professor Alex Cook, who is also Vice Dean (Global Health), both from the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health at NUS, compared the Andes hantavirus with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Covid-19, and recommended that the approach to SARS would be more suitable to manage the spread of the Andes hantavirus.

Prof Leo and Prof Cook also emphasised the need for improved international coordination to prepare for and respond to unforeseen disease outbreaks.

Read more here.