After the Cruise Ship Scare, Can Hantavirus Spread Like COVID? An Expert Answers Burning Questions About The Infection
Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Hari Kishan Boorugu explained all you need to know about hantavirus.
Published : May 12, 2026 at 10:29 AM IST
As news of the hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship circulates, many people are now hearing about hantavirus and wondering: Should I be worried? Is it like COVID? Can it spread between people?
Read more: Health Officials Track Dozens Who Left Hantavirus-Stricken Ship After First Fatality
ETV Bharat talked to Dr. Hari Kishan Boorugu, Consultant Physician and Infectious Disease Specialist at Yashoda Hospitals in Hyderabad. In an exclusive interview, Dr. Boorugu answered the most frequently asked questions about the virus.
What Exactly Is Hantavirus?
Hantavirus belongs to a category called zoonotic infections. It spreads from animals to humans, more specifically: rodents. Rats and mice are the primary carriers. Hantavirus itself is not new. In fact, it has existed for decades and has been identified in countries across the world.
“We often do not diagnose it because we do not routinely test for it,” explains Dr. Boorugu. Many viral infections look similar (with symptoms of fever, body pain, weakness) and often patients simply recover with supportive treatment. In other words, hantavirus may have been around longer than most people realise.
How Does Hantavirus Spread?
Unlike COVID or influenza, hantavirus does not spread easily between humans. You generally do not catch it from somebody sneezing near you in an elevator or standing suspiciously close in an airport queue. Instead, infection usually happens through exposure to infected rodent droppings, urine, or saliva. Let’s say rats have occupied an old storeroom, basement, warehouse, abandoned room, or poorly maintained area. Their secretions dry up. Then dust gets disturbed. Tiny contaminated particles become airborne. You inhale them. That is one of the main ways infection occurs.
Dr. Boorugu explains that when dried secretions from rat urine or faeces become airborne and humans inhale those particles, hantavirus infection can happen. This is why outbreaks sometimes emerge in enclosed settings where rodent exposure exists.
How Dangerous Is It?
The illness exists on a spectrum. At one end: Mild disease. Someone might simply experience fever, body aches, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, headache and then recover. But at the other end of the spectrum, hantavirus can become extremely serious. Some patients develop Hantavirus Cardiopulmonary Syndrome (HCPS): a condition affecting the lungs and heart. Others may develop kidney damage or even bleeding complications, earning hantavirus another medical label: a type of hemorrhagic fever, similar in some ways to dengue. When the disease becomes severe, it escalates quickly. Patients can experience:
- Difficulty breathing
- Lung involvement
- Bleeding manifestations
- Kidney failure
- Cardiac complications
- Severe dehydration
- Low blood pressure
In some cases, ventilator support may be required. And yes, it can occasionally be fatal. Dr. Boorugu says that while some infections are mild, “for some people, the illness becomes very severe, requiring ICU admission.” That unpredictability is why infectious disease experts pay attention to it.
Why Don’t We Hear About It More Often?
Mostly because hantavirus behaves differently from fast-spreading respiratory viruses. COVID spread through human-to-human transmission with astonishing efficiency. Hantavirus does not. Human transmission is considered rare, so you are unlikely to see massive nationwide epidemics. Instead, what health systems typically observe are small outbreaks or isolated cases linked to environmental exposure. That makes it less dramatic but not necessarily harmless. It is more like a hidden risk than a public spectacle. Think of it as the health equivalent of carbon monoxide: uncommon, invisible, but potentially dangerous if conditions align.
Are Indians At Risk?
The short answer: Yes, but not in a panic-worthy way. India is not unfamiliar with hantavirus. In fact, Dr. Boorugu points out that medical literature from India has documented cases for years. Interestingly, he himself helped publish research from the Christian Medical College, Vellore more than a decade ago, involving patients admitted with unexplained fever. When doctors tested for different viral causes, some turned out to have hantavirus infections.
Is There A Cure For Hantavirus?
There is no specific antiviral cure for hantavirus. Doctors mainly rely on supportive treatment: managing symptoms, monitoring organs, maintaining fluids, supporting breathing if necessary, and intervening early when complications arise. This means that recognising warning signs matters. A patient who seeks care early may fare very differently from someone who dismisses worsening symptoms as “just another fever.” This is particularly relevant in countries like ours where unexplained fever often gets attributed to viral infections, seasonal flu, or mosquito-borne illnesses.
How Can I Reduce The Risk?
Before we all start side-eyeing every rat in existence, perspective helps. The risk to the average person remains relatively low. But there are sensible precautions:
- Avoid exposure to rodent-infested areas
- Wear gloves and masks when cleaning dusty storage spaces or old buildings
- Do not sweep rodent droppings dry: wet and disinfect first
- Keep food storage clean and sealed
- Control rodent infestations at home or workplaces
Most importantly: If you have persistent fever, severe body pain, vomiting, unusual breathing difficulty, or worsening symptoms after rodent exposure, seek medical care.
References:
- https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hantavirus
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168170213004486
- https://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/about/index.html
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