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HEALTH

The Claim

Hantavirus is less infectious than SARS-CoV-2 was during the 2019–2020 COVID-19 outbreak.

The Short Version

The evidence strongly supports the comparison in ordinary public-health terms. SARS-CoV-2 spread efficiently between humans during the 2019-2020 outbreak, while hantavirus infections are usually rodent-to-human and rarely spread person-to-person. Limited Andes virus exceptions do not overturn the broader conclusion.

Caveats

  • The comparison is most valid when 'infectious' means human-to-human transmissibility, not every possible route of exposure.
  • Most hantavirus cases come from contact with infected rodent urine, droppings, or saliva, so it is not a like-for-like respiratory spread comparison.
  • Andes virus is a documented but uncommon exception with limited person-to-person transmission in certain settings.

The Receipts

  1. Transmission of SARS-CoV-2: implications for infection prevention precautions

    World Health Organization

  2. Hantavirus disease

    World Health Organization

  3. Hantavirus - Fact Sheet

    World Health Organization (WHO)

  4. Assessment of the SARS-CoV-2 basic reproduction number, R0, during the early phase of the Italian outbreak using a data-driven model

    PubMed Central

  5. About Andes Virus | Hantavirus

    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

  6. Estimates of the severity of coronavirus disease 2019: a model-based analysis

    Nature Medicine

  7. Person-to-Person Transmission of Andes Virus in Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, Argentina

    PubMed Central (NIH)

  8. Evidence for Human-to-Human Transmission of Hantavirus: A Systematic Review

    PubMed Central (NIH)

  9. Transmission of SARS-CoV-2: implications for infection prevention precautions

    PubMed Central (NIH)

  10. 2020 Coronavirus basic estim.pdf

    Université de Bordeaux

+ 7 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

COVID-19COVID-19 virusHantavirus

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