8 ms·

KLM flight attendant hospitalized after contact with hantavirus

39 points by TechTechTech 4mo ago

semiquaver 4mo ago
I’m sure this is not the start of another pandemic but these kind of stories sure do give me the same vibe as the sort we were seeing in Jan/Feb 2020...
- 1970-01-01 4mo ago
  If this were in China (with a population of billions) I would agree. Until we see cases popping up in India/China/Mexico/Japan, we're able to let it fizzle out.
kleiba2 4mo ago
The interesting (and concerning) part is that hantavirus was previously believed not to be transmissible from person to person. But with the recent outbreak, this understanding might have to be updated.
- ilogik 4mo ago
  it seems to be a different strain (and it's not a new one, I think)
  - cap11235 4mo ago
    So... hantavirus is transmissible.
    - chewbacha 4mo ago
      They all are but generally difficult. Andes strain is more transmissible but has only been shown to have one super spreader event previously.
- imalerba 4mo ago
  This strain was already known for person to person transmission. In the south of Argentina we had a big outbreak after a sick person went to a birthday party in 2019.
  - yread 4mo ago
    Some party: 34 infected, 11 died, R of 2.12, 18% infected by aerosol, incubation period 9-40 days https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2009040 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2009040
- duncd 4mo ago
  No, the Andes virus is known to be the only hantavirus that is transmissible from human to human. A South African lab confirmed the British passenger was infected by Andes virus.
- repelsteeltje 4mo ago
  There are already news articles kind-of implying that the crew knew better when they told passengers that the disease was not transmissible.
- ahahahahah 4mo ago
  This is just not true. From https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2009040 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2009040: "was similar to the causative strain (Epilink/96) in the first known person-to-person transmission of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome caused by ANDV, which occurred in El Bolsón, Argentina, in 1996"
Jamesbeam 4mo ago
Man, I am glad the US didn’t get out of the WHO, and there is a sane and responsible HHS Secretary with RFK Jr., whose brain totally did not get eaten by a parasite. I mean, there are only 300 or so cases recorded in history of the Andes hantavirus human-to-human transmission. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2009040#ap1&uccLastUpdatedDate=2026-01-20%2016%3A06%3A29.751%20%2B0000&rememberMe=true https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2009040#ap1&uccL... And Trump, the wise man he is, didn’t cut a single dollar on science, especially that of epidemiology and emerging priority pathogens. You guys are lucky there were no passengers coming back to the US and that there is no global event like the soccer World Cup starting soon or the 250th anniversary of the United States. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/06/us/hantavirus-cruise-us-passengers.html https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/06/us/hantavirus-cruise-us-p... I wouldn’t be worried too much, especially knowing how the president dealt with the coronavirus in his first term. They are just going to shine some light into your veins and/or inject disinfectants into you, and your suffering will be over in no time. I wish my country had an administration that is this good at everything they do, but we wouldn’t know what to do with all those wins. Best of luck, Americans.
- OutOfHere 4mo ago
  What's up with all the sarcasm in your comment? It makes it hard to tell when you're speaking the truth versus speaking in opposites. Why not just speak plainly, so people can understand you -- comprehension should be the first goal. You're trying to communicate a serious matter. Imagine reading a medical abstract, like the one you linked, if it were written in your style of heavy sarcasm. > They are just going to shine some light into your veins and/or inject disinfectants into you, and your suffering will be over in no time. Please cut out the sheer nonsense.
  - SAI_Peregrinus 4mo ago
    Those were Trump's proposed solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic. Their post is quite clear: the US has an utterly incompetent administration which is actively opposed to the best known method for preventing the spread of deadly viruses: vaccines. Funding for monitoring the spread of diseases has also been cut. The World Cup is a large event which will bring people from all over the world into the US and into close contact for multiple days, right as a new dangerous virus with a long incubation period has been detected spreading from person to person.
ajay-b 4mo ago
The media has reported that two British passengers were allowed to fly home, to self isolate, but I am trying to wrap my head around why this was allowed. Given what we learned from the pandemic, would it not have made more sense to have them isolated locally rather than flying back?
qwertyuiop_ 4mo ago
Why would “the authorities” release other passengers to come in contact with more people instead of quarantining them ? https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/dozens-of-passengers-left-hantavirus-stricken-cruise-ship-after-1st-fatality https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/dozens-of-passengers-lef...

39 points by TechTechTech 4mo ago

I’m sure this is not the start of another pandemic but these kind of stories sure do give me the same vibe as the sort we were seeing in Jan/Feb 2020...

1970-01-01 4mo ago
If this were in China (with a population of billions) I would agree. Until we see cases popping up in India/China/Mexico/Japan, we're able to let it fizzle out.

kleiba2 4mo ago

The interesting (and concerning) part is that hantavirus was previously believed not to be transmissible from person to person. But with the recent outbreak, this understanding might have to be updated.

ilogik 4mo ago
it seems to be a different strain (and it's not a new one, I think)
- cap11235 4mo ago
  So... hantavirus is transmissible.
  - chewbacha 4mo ago
    They all are but generally difficult. Andes strain is more transmissible but has only been shown to have one super spreader event previously.
imalerba 4mo ago
This strain was already known for person to person transmission. In the south of Argentina we had a big outbreak after a sick person went to a birthday party in 2019.
- yread 4mo ago
  Some party: 34 infected, 11 died, R of 2.12, 18% infected by aerosol, incubation period 9-40 days https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2009040 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2009040
duncd 4mo ago
No, the Andes virus is known to be the only hantavirus that is transmissible from human to human. A South African lab confirmed the British passenger was infected by Andes virus.
repelsteeltje 4mo ago
There are already news articles kind-of implying that the crew knew better when they told passengers that the disease was not transmissible.
ahahahahah 4mo ago
This is just not true. From https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2009040 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2009040: "was similar to the causative strain (Epilink/96) in the first known person-to-person transmission of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome caused by ANDV, which occurred in El Bolsón, Argentina, in 1996"

Jamesbeam 4mo ago

Man, I am glad the US didn’t get out of the WHO, and there is a sane and responsible HHS Secretary with RFK Jr., whose brain totally did not get eaten by a parasite. I mean, there are only 300 or so cases recorded in history of the Andes hantavirus human-to-human transmission. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2009040#ap1&uccLastUpdatedDate=2026-01-20%2016%3A06%3A29.751%20%2B0000&rememberMe=true https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2009040#ap1&uccL... And Trump, the wise man he is, didn’t cut a single dollar on science, especially that of epidemiology and emerging priority pathogens. You guys are lucky there were no passengers coming back to the US and that there is no global event like the soccer World Cup starting soon or the 250th anniversary of the United States. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/06/us/hantavirus-cruise-us-passengers.html https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/06/us/hantavirus-cruise-us-p... I wouldn’t be worried too much, especially knowing how the president dealt with the coronavirus in his first term. They are just going to shine some light into your veins and/or inject disinfectants into you, and your suffering will be over in no time. I wish my country had an administration that is this good at everything they do, but we wouldn’t know what to do with all those wins. Best of luck, Americans.

OutOfHere 4mo ago
What's up with all the sarcasm in your comment? It makes it hard to tell when you're speaking the truth versus speaking in opposites. Why not just speak plainly, so people can understand you -- comprehension should be the first goal. You're trying to communicate a serious matter. Imagine reading a medical abstract, like the one you linked, if it were written in your style of heavy sarcasm. > They are just going to shine some light into your veins and/or inject disinfectants into you, and your suffering will be over in no time. Please cut out the sheer nonsense.
- SAI_Peregrinus 4mo ago
  Those were Trump's proposed solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic. Their post is quite clear: the US has an utterly incompetent administration which is actively opposed to the best known method for preventing the spread of deadly viruses: vaccines. Funding for monitoring the spread of diseases has also been cut. The World Cup is a large event which will bring people from all over the world into the US and into close contact for multiple days, right as a new dangerous virus with a long incubation period has been detected spreading from person to person.

ajay-b 4mo ago

The media has reported that two British passengers were allowed to fly home, to self isolate, but I am trying to wrap my head around why this was allowed. Given what we learned from the pandemic, would it not have made more sense to have them isolated locally rather than flying back?

qwertyuiop_ 4mo ago

Why would “the authorities” release other passengers to come in contact with more people instead of quarantining them ? https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/dozens-of-passengers-left-hantavirus-stricken-cruise-ship-after-1st-fatality https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/dozens-of-passengers-lef...