“Hantaviruses are found throughout the world, including in the US. North and South America are home to “New World Hantaviruses,” which cause cardiopulmonary syndrome, while countries in Europe and Asia have “Old World Hantaviruses,” which cause hemorrhagic fever and renal syndrome.”
Hantaviruses are RNA viruses that infect rodents worldwide. They typically cause asymptomatic, chronic infections in the animals, which spread the virus widely into their environments through their urine, feces, and saliva. Humans get infected when virus particles from rodent-contaminated areas are stirred up into the air and inhaled, or through direct contact with the virus via the eyes, nose, mouth, or cuts.
A cardiopulmonary hantavirus infection typically has four stages: the incubation period, which can last up to 45 days after virus exposure; a prodromal phase up to 12 days that are marked by fever, fatigue, and pains; the cardiopulmonary phase, where breathing trouble, low oxygen saturation, and shock can develop; then, if you make it, the fourth stage, in which respiratory symptoms improve, but there’s lingering fatigue and the kidneys make abnormally large amounts of urine.
I don’t need this knowledge in my life right now…
There’s maybe 30 cases a year.
