'Viruses vs humans': Why Twitter users' panic over hantavirus is unnecessary

The news of a man in China dying of yet another virus called ‘hantavirus’ sent shock waves to the world, but it should not be the primary source of panic as it cannot be transmitted from human to human. Unlike the deadly coronavirus, the hantavirus is a rodent-borne family of viruses. Even though it can cause haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, but it hantavirus can only be contracted when the individual is exposed to infected rodent urine, saliva or faeces. Meanwhile, the coronavirus is highly contagious and it requires the affected person to be isolated. 

Therefore, the worry over hantavirus should not be paid heed amid constant alerts of lockdowns, curfews and the increasing death toll due to the fatal coronavirus which has now spread to over 190 countries. Hantavirus claimed the life of a man who got on a bus for work to reach Shandong Province and the traces of the virus reportedly go back to 1993. The ‘new virus’ has also been found among 32 others who were on the same bus and were only tested because of the man’s death. However, since the news can cause panic, here’s how you can keep yourself informed and calm.

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‘Viruses vs humans’

Despite the fact that hantavirus is not communicable from human-to-human interaction and can only be contracted under specific conditions, the Twitter users took on the ‘new virus from China’ in a jiffy and most of them were seen making memes about it. With most people under lockdown, confined to their homes and coronavirus also being originated from China’s Wuhan, netizens could not keep calm over hantavirus. One of the internet users also said he did not think World War II would be about "viruses vs humans" as coronavirus has claimed over 17,000 lives in the world.

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