90-Second Read: What you should know about Hantavirus regarding your pets

Hantavirus has been in the news lately, infecting cruise ship passengers. This knowledge changed with the Hantavirus outbreak in the four-corner region of the southwestern United States that caused serious human respiratory illness. However, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association, there have been no Hantavirus infections reported in horses or dogs. Hantavirus was originally called Hantan virus, after the Hantan River, which originates in North Korea and flows into South Korea.

In 1993, the only native Hantavirus found in the New World was Prospect Hill virus which does not cause disease. A new disease called Hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome, or HPS, soon followed. Currently, there are at least 21 species of Hantavirus and probably more. The actual virus was isolated in 1978, from an infected, striped field mouse, Apodemus agrarius, near the Hantan River.

A reader has asked for a review of the virus and risks associated with pets. Instead of looking for confirmational bias to use against others, it is important to know the facts about biologic agents. Importantly, "the Andes virus is the only type of Hantavirus that is known to spread person-to-person," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People get Hantavirus from contact with rodents like rats and mice, especially when exposed to their urine, droppings, and saliva.

If people do their "own research," it would be most important for them to know how to read and use scientific resources with strong, logical skepticism and reasoning to ensure they develop accurate opinions. Field work helped isolate this new virus from the common deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus), and was later named as Sin Nombre virus. That work showed the virus had been in the area from at least 1959 and probably much longer.