90-Second Read: Don’t freak out about Hantavirus

While it is possible that the virus was spread from human to human on the ship, the World Health Organization stresses that the worldwide risk level from Hantavirus is low. Bristow spoke with Today, Explained co-host Noel King about the outbreak and what we know about this specific strain of Hantavirus, as well as the US response so far. Hantavirus is actually a family of about 40 different kinds of viruses, and they're primarily spread by coming into contact with the infected feces, urine, or saliva of rodents who are carriers. Eighteen Americans are now back in the United States after being stuck on a cruise ship that was stricken with an outbreak of Hantavirus.

The passengers that were on board the cruise ship that got hit by Hantavirus got off the ship. What's unique about this is that the Andes species of Hantavirus is the only one that we have seen be able to transmit person to person. You're just getting a lot more information about it because it is such a strange situation for Hantavirus to be on a cruise ship. An infectious disease researcher explains what's going on, and why this isn't the outbreak to worry about.

That hasn't stopped people from worrying, but Laurel Bristow, an infectious disease researcher at the Emory Rollins School of Public Health and host of the weekly radio show and podcast Health Wanted, says this viral outbreak is very far from warranting a pandemic-level freakout. One of the problems with the Hantavirus outbreak is that the symptoms overlap a lot with influenza, so it's not going to be the first thing that you suspect. If you want to find a silver lining for it, it's that this is going to allow us to learn a lot more about how this particular type of Hantavirus spreads, which will help us in the future. It seems pretty clear if you look online that there is a lot of misinformation spreading about Hantavirus.

It depends on what kind of Hantavirus it is, but the case fatality tends to be up to 40 percent. How did the Andes version of Hantavirus get on this cruise ship? They're going to be monitored by professionals, and people don't like to think about it, but this sort of stuff is not as uncommon as you think.