Piet Maes

I hope @WHO are listening to Gustavo Palacios, one of the world's few experts on the Andes virus, but it doesn't appear that they are.

Most of what we know about how the #AndesHantavirus transmits comes from a NEJM study of an outbreak in Argentina in 2018-19. Here’s an interview I produced with the study’s senior scientist: cbc.ca/9.7192895 People can be infectious for 48 hrs before symptom onset. #WHO

Nature: There is no vaccine for deadly hantavirus: what that means for future outbreaks interview with Jay Hooper, Hanta vaccine developer By Mohana Basu @Nature @MohanaBasu bit.ly/4cZ4Ucn

Acaban de secuenciar al virus que ha causado el brote de Hanta en el crucero. virological.org/t/complete-seq… Resulta que es prácticamente idéntico al virus que causó la epidemia que duró 4 meses en Argentina en 2018. nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NE… No es un virus nuevo ni su transmisión de 🧵

Many thanks to all colleagues worldwide who contributed expertise, comments and support. Rapid open scientific collaboration remains essential during evolving outbreak investigations. #PublicHealth #Virology #Epidemiology

The statement summarizes current scientific evidence regarding: • documented person-to-person transmission of ANDV, • outbreak epidemiology, • transmission dynamics, • and proportionate evidence-based public health responses. #AndesVirus #Hantavirus

The International Society for Hantaviruses (ISH) and members of the international hantavirus scientific and medical community have published a statement on the ongoing Andes virus outbreak investigation linked to the cruise ship “Hondius”. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo…

The International Society for #Hantaviruses (ISH) has prepared a scientific statement regarding the current Andes virus #outbreak investigation associated with the cruise ship “Hondius”, publicly available at: doi.org/10.5281/zenodo… current scientific evidence on #Andesvirus 👇

1/6 The link to the statement of the Hantavirus Society is a bit shaky just now (wonder why...) To keep you informed by the real experts, s, you find the screenshots below x.com/Friedemann1/st…

⚠️Andes hantavirus on ship is genetically nearly identical to the strain circulating currently in Argentina. There is no evidence at this stage of mutations that would confer increased transmissibility in humans. Prof @Tuliodna confirmed to @AJEnglish that full genetic sequencing of the 2 patients in South Africa and one patient in Zurich showed: "The genome of the virus is extremely similar to the Andes virus that is currently circulating in South America. We are talking more than 99 per cent identical." youtu.be/6EAuX3XUuJw?si…

Re: human spread of hantavirus, here’s a description from the 2018 Argentina outbreak: “high viral titers in combination with attendance at massive social gatherings or extensive contact among persons were associated with a higher likelihood of transmission.”

Swiss authorities have confirmed a case of #hantavirus identified in a passenger from the MV Hondius cruise ship. He had responded to an email from the ship’s operator informing the passengers of the health event, and presented himself to a hospital in Zurich, Switzerland, and is receiving care. In line with the International Health Regulations (IHR), WHO is working with relevant countries to support international contact tracing, to ensure that those potentially exposed are monitored and that any further disease spread is limited. The type of virus in this outbreak has been confirmed as Andes hantavirus by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases @nicd_sa, South Africa and the Geneva University Hospitals @hug_ge, Switzerland The support of the Institut Pasteur de Dakar @PasteurDakar, Senegal and the Administración Nacional de Laboratorios e Institutos de Salud @ANLIS_Malbran, Argentina has also been critical in responding to this event. As of 6 May, there are 8 cases, 3 of whom are confirmed as hantavirus by laboratory testing. WHO will continue to work with countries to ensure that the patients, contacts, passengers and crew have the information and support they need to stay safe and prevent spread.

Andes virus transmission is fundamentally different from highly transmissible respiratory viruses such as COVID-19. Transmission appears to require relatively close and prolonged contact. But describing Andes virus as “barely transmissible” is likely an oversimplification.

The currently available WHO timeline appears compatible with previously documented Andes virus transmission patterns. Importantly, this still does NOT prove human-to-human transmission in the current outbreak.

Sequencing has now confirmed that the cruise ship outbreak involves Andes virus. This is epidemiologically important because Andes virus is the only hantavirus for which convincing human-to-human transmission has been documented. reuters.com/business/healt…

Maria Van Kerkhove, the head of WHO’s epidemic and pandemic preparedness, said: "We do believe that there may be some human-to-human transmission that is happening among the really close contacts.” She said the first case was likely infected before boarding the cruise ship, which is currently anchored off Cape Verde.

In contrast, Seoul virus is globally associated with brown and black rats spread through maritime shipping routes. However, Seoul virus typically causes a milder form of HFRS with substantially lower mortality and a different clinical profile than currently being discussed.

The natural reservoir hosts of Andes virus are forest/rural rodents, not the typical port-associated rats commonly found on ships. This makes accidental introduction of infected Andes reservoir rodents onto the vessel at docking biologically less straightforward.

HTNV Cruise outbreak - Important nuance in current media discussions: Not all hantaviruses behave the same clinically or epidemiologically Applying assumptions based on European hantaviruses to a potential South American Andes virus event may lead to misleading risk assessments