It is not new that the hantavirus occurs in Europe. “I once had a patient who contracted the virus during a camping trip in the Ardennes. Then you get stomach and intestinal complaints and nausea,” internist-infectiologist at Amsterdam UMC Bram Goorhuis previously told NH.
However, the variant of the virus that occurs in America, the so-called Andean virus, can cause more problems. “Because you also suffer from lung complaints, the virus is transmissible from person to person. All confirmed cases we are now hearing about are the Andes variant. So every patient who now tests positive has that.”
No reason to panic
However, according to Goorhuis, this does not mean that there is reason to panic. “You don’t have to imagine Ebola-like situations.” There are varying degrees of contagiousness, with measles being the worst. “If one person has that, they can immediately infect twenty others. That is huge. This is much more difficult to transfer.”
