90-Second Read: What an infectious disease specialist wants you to know about Hantavirus

As the number of suspected or confirmed Hantavirus cases linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship rises to about a dozen, people across the country are watching with concern. Others are more cautious, raising questions about how the Andes strain of Hantavirus is transmitted and the length of its incubation period. We just had a CDC statement sent out through the South Carolina Department of Public Health, which is really a reminder to clinicians about how Hantavirus can present, what the risks are and how to respond if concerned.

It can lead to what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls "a severe and deadly disease that affects the lungs." But the agency's director said on CBS News that the risk to the public is "much, much lower" than with COVID-19. A: Hantavirus is a group of viruses that can cause severe illness and, unfortunately, have a high rate of risk. A: The Andes virus, which is within the Hantavirus family, is the only strain that we know can spread person to person.

But, thankfully, compared to how infectious COVID-19 is, it is not in the same vein of concern. A: Those of us in infectious diseases are trained to have a healthy worry when this concern arises for the well-being of patients. So, it's usually direct physical contact, meaning that they're in the same enclosed space for quite some time and may be spread through saliva or respiratory secretions from coughing or from kissing.