What doctors know about how the Andes hantavirus spreads
In 2018, an outbreak of the Andes hantavirus in Epuyen, Argentina, infected 36 people and killed 11, prompting a study on how the virus spreads. The study found that the virus can be transmitted from person to person during a short window, typically on the day a person develops a fever.
In 2018, nearly three dozen people in Epuyen, Argentina, fell ill due to the Andes hantavirus, with 11 deaths. The virus, carried by long-tailed pygmy rice rats, can be transmitted from person to person. A study published in 2020 in the New England Journal of Medicine investigated the outbreak. The researchers found that the virus is most infectious on the day a person develops a fever and can be transmitted after brief proximity to an infected person. The index case in Epuyen was a 68-year-old man who attended a birthday party with about 100 people and infected someone else after brief contact. The World Health Organization has classified hantaviruses as emerging priority pathogens due to their potential to spark international public health emergencies.
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