Reposted from the Natural History Museum of Utah’s Science Stories blog.
Earlier this year, a cruise ship returning from Argentina experienced an outbreak of hantavirus among its passengers. As the news broke in the United States, questions and speculation about the virus spread like wildfire across digital platforms, leading to the distribution of misinformation and many more questions. Will hantavirus cause another pandemic? How worried do we need to be? Can hantavirus spread from person to person?
With a background in hantavirus research, NHMU’s vertebrate zoology collections manager Destiny Gonzalez is here to stop the speculation and answer questions about hantavirus.
Do I need to worry about the hantavirus outbreak in Argentina?
You definitely shouldn’t be concerned about the hantavirus in Argentina. The Andes virus is not found in the United States and is unlikely to appear here. If you are traveling to Argentina, take precautions in rural areas by not interacting with rodent excrement.
Is hantavirus in Utah?
Yes. Sin Nombre hantavirus was discovered in the Four Corners region, Utah being one of those states, in 1993, when a then-unknown virus started to infect young, healthy people. They had respiratory symptoms, like coughing, fluid buildup in the lungs and wheezing. A team of researchers started to investigate what this could be. At the time, nobody knew a hantavirus that could infect humans was in the Americas—we thought it was only in Europe and Asia. Through the team’s research, they discovered that these young, healthy people were infected with Sin Nombre hantavirus, which is a different strain than the outbreak that occurred on the cruise.
How is hantavirus contracted?
Sin Nombre hantavirus is carried by the Western deer mouse, or Peromyscus sonoriensis. It’s one of the most common rodents in the United States. In NHMU’s collections, we have almost 7,000 catalogued specimens. They’re really cute little mice and the carriers of hantavirus in the United States.
The virus itself is contracted by the inhalation of viral particles from rodent excrement, so feces or urine. For example, if you have a shed and you’re sweeping up any kind of mouse poop, it aerosolizes. When you inhale those aerosolized particles, you can contract hantavirus.
How can I avoid exposure to hantavirus?
Since the virus can be contracted through exposure to rodent excrement, you can avoid exposure with some simple precautions. Most importantly, don’t sweep or vacuum rodent poop. Instead, spray a one-part bleach, nine-part water solution on the area and carefully wipe it with paper towels.
Will hantavirus cause another pandemic?
No, hantavirus probably won’t cause any kind of pandemic or epidemic. There might be small, isolated outbreaks, but it doesn’t really have the opportunity to spread as wide as we’ve seen other viruses do.
How do museums help hantavirus research?
In 1993, when researchers were still trying to get a better idea of where this mysterious virus originated, they actually turned to museum collections. The team went into collections to test tissue samples from specimens collected decades earlier. They discovered the virus in these samples, which showed them that this wasn’t a new or novel virus. It had just gone undetected for a long time.
So, my role as the vertebrate zoology collections manager is to collect and preserve specimens that can be used in a variety of different ways, including in pathogen research. In fact, the vertebrate zoology department at the Natural History Museum of Utah is hoping to team up with researchers at the University of Utah to conduct a statewide hantavirus survey to get a better understanding of hantavirus and its distribution.
Explore the collections
Learn more about NHMU’s vertebrate zoology collections and how they’re assisting in research around the world.