Will There Be a New Pandemic? 0 15

"As for hantavirus, the data we have about the entire hantavirus group indicates that outbreaks are self-limiting. If this virus had a huge capacity for mutations, we would have seen something more serious than what is happening in the world long ago," said Ancha Baranova, a professor at the George Mason University School of Systems Biology, during a broadcast on RTVI.US.

At the same time, according to the biologist, the current hantavirus outbreak in Argentina, where more than 100 people have already fallen ill, raises much more concern than the spread of the virus aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius.

Professor Baranova assured that "there will be no major pandemic." This virus cannot appear even in cities with rodent problems, such as New York, Baranova notes.

"This virus is carried by specific rodents known as rice rats. These rodents do not live in large human settlements; they live in the wild, particularly in Argentina and some other South American countries," the biologist explained.

It is worth noting that the hantavirus outbreak, which led to the death of three people, recently occurred on a cruise ship. The ship was eventually allowed to enter the port of Tenerife, where passengers were dressed in special protective suits and immediately transported by bus to the airport, where they were evacuated to their home country and placed in quarantine.