90-Second Read: Saskatoon researchers in ‘very early stages’ of animal testing for Hantavirus vaccine

But researchers at VIDO have already been studying the virus and developing vaccines against New World Hantaviruses, which include the two strains most commonly found in the Americas. The other is the Sin Nombre virus, the strain commonly linked to cases of transmission from deer mice to humans in Canada and the U.S. Currently, there is no cure or vaccine for Hantavirus, though many efforts worldwide are underway to develop one. As for next steps, Warner said researchers will be getting the vaccines into animals this summer and will continue to conduct field surveillance involving trapping deer mice outside and testing them to see the prevalence of the virus in Saskatchewan.

A Hantavirus outbreak on a luxury cruise ship earlier this month thrust the virus into the spotlight recently, after three people died after contracting the virus. VIDO is primarily developing a protein subunit vaccine but is exploring different methods for delivering it to patients, from arm injections to a liquid sprayed into the nose, which would address the site that the virus infects most commonly, said Warner. We're looking into how we can administer the vaccine through an intranasal or mucosal delivery to really induce a good immune response within the lungs because that's where the virus is going to come.

On Monday, the Spanish government confirmed a new case of Hantavirus connected to the MV Hondius. The patient is one of 14 Spanish nationals aboard the ship and the second Spaniard to test positive for the virus. One of these two strains is the Andes virus, which spread among passengers on the MV Hondius and is commonly found in South America.