What is Hantavirus?

About Hantavirus:

• Hantaviruses are a family of viruses which can cause serious illnesses and death.
• The virus can cause severe infections of the lungs (with cough and shortness of breath) or kidneys (with abdominal pain, and sometimes kidney failure).
• It causes diseases like hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS).
• Transmission:
  • They are spread mainly by rodents like rats and mice, and are not spread from person-to-person.
  • Transmission of the virus to humans occurs through inhalation of infected rodent urine, droppings, or saliva.
• Symptoms:
  • Symptoms of hantavirus infection can be mild or severe, depending on whether a person's lungs become infected.
  • The infection starts with sudden fever, headache, muscle aches, and sometimes abdominal symptoms, which may be followed by a cough and shortness of breath or by kidney problems.
  • The infection gets worse quickly. Lung failure can occur and may lead to death.
• Treatment:
  • There is no specific treatment for hantavirus infection, but early medical care can help if serious disease develops. 
  • More than half of people who have this disease in their lungs die.

Q1: What is a Virus?

A virus is an infectious microbe consisting of a segment of nucleic acid (either DNA or RNA) surrounded by a protein coat. A virus cannot replicate alone; instead, it must infect cells and use components of the host cell to make copies of itself. Often, a virus ends up killing the host cell in the process, causing damage to the host organism. Well-known examples of viruses causing human disease include AIDS, COVID-19, measles and smallpox.

Source: Deadly Rat Disease Spreads to Humans, Kills 4 In US