Fallen Pollyanna

There have been some people interviewed saying that #AndesVirus can only spread via extended close contact such as sleeping in the same bed as someone. This is not the case. The NEJM outbreak definitively shows a counterexample to this with at least 3 individuals w/ substantial onward spread to multiple others in crowded social settings. Authors implicate both droplet and aerosol transmission here directly in the paper. I suspect it is short-range and the case needs to be shedding substantially.

@lespauljunior3 Yeah. We’ve already jumped from “it doesn’t spread” to “ it’s mild”

Three suspected #hantavirus case patients have just been evacuated from the ship and are on their way to receive medical care in the Netherlands in coordination with @WHO, the ship’s operator and national authorities from Cabo Verde, the United Kingdom, Spain and the Netherlands. WHO continues to work with the ship’s operators to closely monitor the health of passengers and crew, working with countries to support appropriate medical follow-up and evacuation where needed. Monitoring and follow-up for passengers on board and for those who have already disembarked has been initiated in collaboration with the ship’s operators and national health authorities. WHO thanks all those involved. At this stage, the overall public health risk remains low.