Hantavirus

Hantaviruses are a family of viruses spread mainly by rodents and can cause varied disease syndromes in people worldwide.  Infection with any hantavirus can produce hantavirus disease in people. Hantaviruses in the Americas are known as “New World” hantaviruses and may cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). Other hantaviruses, known as “Old World” hantaviruses, are found mostly in Europe and Asia and may cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS).

Each hantavirus serotype has a specific rodent host species and is spread to people via aerosolized virus that is shed in urine, feces, and saliva, and less frequently by a bite from an infected host. The most important hantavirus in the United States that can cause HPS is the Sin Nombre virus, spread by the deer mouse

Hantravirus Treatment

There is no specific treatment, cure, or vaccine for hantavirus infection. However, we do know that if infected individuals are recognized early and receive medical care in an intensive care unit, they may do better.

• Hantaviruses are RNA viruses transmitted to humans by rodents (rodent-borne).
• Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) is a disease in which, in the late stage of infection with a hantavirus subtype, patients experience lung congestion, fluid accumulation in the lungs, and shortness of breath. Early symptoms (fatigue, fever, muscle aches) are nonspecific. In addition, some hantaviruses can cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) as the disease progresses.
• Health officials first identified hantavirus in an outbreak in 1993 in the "Four Corners" area of the southwestern U.S. Hantavirus spreads to humans by rodent urine, feces, saliva, and by airborne particles containing these items. The 2012 outbreak at Yosemite National Park was due to hantavirus transfer to humans by deer mice. Human-to-human transmission of hantavirus in the Americas has not been documented.
• Hantavirus is not contagious (in North America).
• In South America, some investigators suggest hantavirus there may be contagious.
• The incubation period for hantavirus is about one to five weeks.
• About 38% of hantavirus infections are lethal (mortality rate); specialists usually care for infected patients.
• HPS is caused by hantaviruses that cause lung capillaries to leak fluid into the lung tissue.
• Physicians usually diagnose HPS presumptively by the patient's lung symptoms or the patient's association with rodents or the patient's probable contact with rodent-contaminated airborne dust; chest X-rays provide additional evidence, but definitive diagnosis is usually done at a specialized lab or the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
• There is no specific treatment of HPS; doctors usually treat patients in an intensive care facility and often require respiratory support (intubation and mechanical ventilation).
• Risk factors are any association with rodents and their airborne body excretions.
• If the HPS patient survives, there are usually no long-term complications.
• Prevention of HPS centers on avoidance of rodent contamination; there is no vaccine available to prevent hantavirus infection or HPS.

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