90-Second Read: The Hantavirus outbreak is the warning the world needs to improve pandemic preparedness

The Hantavirus outbreak highlights the need for Aotearoa New Zealand to strengthen pandemic preparedness, support coordinated international health measures and invest in research and prevention of zoonotic spillover. The Hantavirus outbreak is the warning the world needs to improve pandemic preparedness. The World Health Organization's ( WHO ) rapid international response and the Hantavirus' transmission dynamics are important factors in preventing the outbreak from becoming a global pandemic. Fortunately, the outbreak appears to have been contained because the virus spreads relatively inefficiently between people and because coordinated national and international public health measures, supported by the World Health Organization (WHO), were effective.

A 2018 Andes Hantavirus outbreak was seeded by a symptomatic person attending a party 6 with around 100 guests, five of whom became infected. Previous Hantavirus outbreaks have been eliminated through these simple public health measures. We have hopefully "dodged a bullet" with this Hantavirus outbreak but may not be so fortunate next time unless we increase political and economic investment in shared global health security. More than 120 passengers from the stricken cruise ship MV Hondius are now being monitored in their home regions, including five Australians and a New Zealander who will remain in quarantine for three weeks in a facility near Perth.

It should also strengthen pandemic preparedness, including surveillance and response capacity, while investing in research and prevention of zoonotic spillover linked to climate disruption, land-use change, biodiversity loss, and human encroachment into wildlife habitats. But while caution is still needed, the outbreak is likely to be contained and provides a vivid reminder of the importance of a globally coordinated response to such pandemic threats. The animal-human spillover capability has been observed with multiple Hantavirus species 1 that occasionally infect people across the Americas, Europe and Asia. While this outbreak will likely be eliminated, there are still too many gaps in global pandemic prevention, preparedness and response measures.

Its ability for animal-to-human (zoonotic) transmission from its natural rodent reservoir to unsuspecting tourists makes the Hantavirus an unpredictable threat. For a significant outbreak of a virus like this, it needs to get lucky. 4 Transmission is also concentrated around the time a person develops symptoms, 5 which rapidly get worse and effectively reduce further contacts and opportunities for spread.