There’s the name of a new virus trending on social media called the #Hantavirus. And this is causing a whole new level of panic among netizens that it was another COVID-19 ready to cause a new pandemic.
China’s Global Times reports that a man from China’s Yunnan province tested positive for the Hantavirus on Monday.
He died while on his way back to Shandong Province for work on a chartered bus. 32 other people have been tested, the report added.
There are a lot of rumors spreading on the causes of Hantavirus.
However, freepressjournal elaborating on the causes wrote that humans who contract the hantavirus usually come into contact with rodents that carry the virus.
Hantaviruses normally infect rodents but do not cause disease in them. Humans may become infected with hantaviruses through contact with rodent urine, saliva, or feces.
“Rodent infestation in and around the home remains the primary risk for hantavirus exposure. Even healthy individuals are at risk for HPS infection if exposed to the virus,” Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said in its website.
Although Hantavirus can’t be passed on from person to person, it can be contracted if someone touches their eyes, nose or mouth after touching rodent droppings, urine, or nesting materials, states Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fact sheet.
Among the early symptoms of the virus include fever, headache, muscle ache, abdominal pain, dizziness, chills and abdominal problems, such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea. About half of all HPS patients experience these symptoms.
Late symptoms include lungs fill with fluid and shortness of breath.
