What I forgot to include in my previous post is this: this pattern is often called a “stupid virus” — one that kills its host so quickly that it barely has time to use that person as a vector for transmission. A classic example would be Ebola. The bigger issue is the balance between mortality and transmissibility. COVID-19 had a kind of Russian roulette built into its mortality rate, but it also had a clearly high transmission potential. Hantavirus is not a new virus. Last year, it was reported as the cause of death of the wife of Gene Hackman, who had dementia. Because of the unfortunate cruise incident, any outbreak involving this deadly virus anywhere in the Western world is now likely to draw media attention. However, if authorities identify a traceable chain of global spread originating from the initial outbreak on the ship, that would be a serious reason for concern.
Gene Hackman’s wife also died from hantavirus. It is spread through rodent droppings and rodent urine. Was the cruise ship infested?
