Per Google: Betsy Arakawa, the wife of legendary actor Gene Hackman, tragically died from Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), a severe respiratory illness contracted from infected rodents. [1, 2] Arakawa likely contracted the disease at their Santa Fe, New Mexico home, where investigators found signs of rodent nesting and feces in detached outbuildings. This rare but serious disease primarily transmits to humans through contact with the urine, droppings, or saliva of infected mice and rats. [1, 2, 3, 4] Key Details & Symptoms Transmission: Humans catch the virus by breathing in airborne particles from stirred-up rodent droppings or urine. It rarely spreads between humans. Incubation Period: Symptoms typically appear one to eight weeks after exposure. Initial Symptoms: Early signs mimic the flu and include fatigue, fever, muscle aches (thighs, hips, back), headaches, and chills. Severe Symptoms: In late stages, HPS causes the lungs to fill with fluid, leading to coughing and severe shortness of breath. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] Some surprise the cruise ship patient was repatriated. At one time, foolish people thought confinement would prevent spread of COVID. Bob Wilson
Yes. What has me curious is the pathology of fecal transfer versus air born. What makes fecal the identified mechanism? Is it fecal dust or something more substantial needed? Bob Wilson
Inhaling the dust is all that is needed. Where aren't there rodents. Odds are it was onboard rodents that spread the disease. Which is what we should be hoping for, as the published story is more worrying. If a passenger got infected off ship, and then spread it to other people, that is pointing to a hantavirus that can now infect people to people.
Yes. That is why there have long been warnings about how to clean up mouse and rat droppings, in order to avoid hantavirus. Ordinary dry sweeping stirs up the dust. It is endemic nearly worldwide. Several sources have indicated that there has been no sign of rodents on this ship. Patient 0, who died a month ago, is believed to have been exposed to the Andes variant, the only variant (of more than 3 dozen) known to be transmissible between humans, during an extended tour in Argentina and neighboring countries prior to boarding this ship. Argentina had a very significant outbreak of this in about 2018. As someone booked on this very ship for later this year, I've been closely following this outbreak since hearing about it when it first anchored at Cape Verde.
