The outbreak of hantavirus on a cruise ship moored off the western coast of Africa is gripping a world primed by recent painful experience to be on edge for the next Covid-19-like event. It’s no wonder: People trapped on a ship where a deadly disease might be spreading triggers flashbacks of the early days of Covid.
Scientists and public health experts are gripped by the hantavirus situation too, but for different reasons. They are worried that hantaviruses haven’t been as well studied as they ought to be. They have some concern that more passengers could fall ill. They are not fearful that the MV Hondius is ground zero for the next big one.
