Despite what the news and social media is saying, the Hantavirus is extremely unlikely to become the next big pandemic. Look what happened with the panic about Monkeypox, and how that went basically nowhere.
You probably know what Hantavirus is if you're reading it, but if you don't, I'll give a quick explainer.
The Hantavirus is a disease that spreads primarily through rat droppings, and it has about a 38% fatality rate, according to the CDC. Now, initally, it feels like just an average fever, but a few (4-10) days after it's inital phase, it's late symtoms start to show, with shortness of breath and a possible tightness in their chest as their lungs slowly fill with fluid. There's also the chance of contracting HFRS (Hemmoragic fever with renal syndrome), another potentially fatal disease involving the kidneys, but this type is mostly found in Eurasia, but can be found worldwide. HFRS initally starts with intese headaches and back pain, along with a fever and blurred vision, but can develop into kidney failure and internal bleeding.
This sounds pretty fucking terrifying, does it not? Alongside the lack of a cure or vaccine, it's basically a coinflip to see if you survive. THe thing is, all but one strain can actually spread human to human, making the chance of contracting it rare (unless you're around a bunch of wild rats with diahrrea). The only strain that can actually spread is the Andes strain, and that's the strain that was found on the cruise ship.
Despite being the only strain of the virus that can spread human to human, for it to actually spread, there has to be prolonged close contact with someone to have the chance of contraction, making it still extremely difficult to spread.
Despite this lack of risk, people are still panicking and calling it the next pandemic, despite not