Hantavirus: The virus that caused a new alarm in China

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, China is reporting the death of a human from a new virus called hantavirus.

The unidentified victim from Yuhan province died while on a bus heading to work in China's Shandong province, the Global Times reported today. The 32 passengers on the same bus were tested for the virus.

It is rarely transmitted from person to person

According to the New York Post, experts hastened to point out that it is not a new virus - and it is rarely believed that it has been passed on to humans. "The hantavirus first appeared in the 1950s during the US-Korea War in Korea (on the Hantan River). It is transmitted by rats / mice if humans swallow their body fluids. "Human-to-human transmission is rare," says Swedish scientist Dr. Sumaiya Shaikh in a tweet. "Do not panic unless you plan to eat rats," he said.

Source: e-radio.gr