Virus outbreaks are nothing unprecedented. From SARS in 2003,  Zika in 2015, Ebola in 2016 andCOVID-19 in 2020, humans have worked as a community to combat these pathogens through evolving management strategies that continue to develop for efficient intervention. Recently, the fear around viral infections surged as hantavirus became the hot topic after a Dutch cruise ship departing from Argentina was hit by the virus, resulting in 3 deaths of the 11 total cases. Despite the safety protocols implemented by the World Health Organization and European Union, many have expressed their alarming concerns towards the virus becoming a second iteration of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The first reported case of hantavirus goes back to 1978, South Korea where the etiologic agent of Korean Hemorrhagic Fever (KHF) was isolated from infected field rodents identified near Hantan river, hence the name, Hantaan virus (Mir M.A., 2010). With over 3,000 United Nations soldiers afflicted during the Korean War (1950-1953), researchers had dedicated decades since then to deducing the symptoms, treatment, and prognosis of hantavirus (Shamim, 2026). It is classified as a genus of viruses that naturally infect rodents, which are occasionally transmitted to humans through exposure to rodents’ urine, saliva or feces. The burden of the disease is commonly divided by its impact based on the geographical locale and cultural ancestry in the Western Hemisphere, the virus causes hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), attacking the lungs and leading to respiratory failure, and at its extreme, death. Whilst in Asia and Europe, the virus is found to contribute to low blood pressure and kidney haemorrhages,referred to as hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) (Abdoler & Malani, 2025). 

Given that symptoms begin at least a week after viral exposure and often require an additional eight weeks to appear, early diagnosis of the infection is particularly challenging. This difficulty is further constrained by the fact that early symptoms are synonymous with those of Influenza, COVID-19, or dengue fever, which directly impacts the effectiveness of patient care and management. As of now, specific antiviral medications and vaccines are not available. Rather, treatment plans focus on supportive care to alleviate renal and respiratory complications. Reported cases of 10,000 to 100,000 each year, of which are primarily central to Asia and Europe (WHO, 2026). Prevention methods also remain standard, in which the simplest approach is to minimise and  avoid all forms of contact between people and rodents. Although this seems fairly simple, contaminated air, food or drink and materials are all forms of exposure many are unaware of. 

This ultimately raises the question: will we experience another global pandemic? Researchers have been evaluating the possibilities by delving into the comparison of hantavirus to previous epidemic viral diseases. A common trend is the origin of these infections, in fact, every notable outbreak in the last 40 years has been a product of zoonotic spillover (AJ et al, 2023). Additionally, both coronavirus and hantavirus are defined as a class of RNA viruses, another factor that may justify the belief that humanity will soon face another outbreak. Nevertheless, scientists argue otherwise. Taking into account the striking similarities, it is equally as important to recognise the contrasting nature of the two viruses. At a microscopic level, the coronavirus has a prominent protein structured as spikes from their surface. Meanwhile, hantaviruses consist of glycoproteins, hook-like shells that form a grid pattern (Shamim, 2026). Their difference in microscopic composition is translated to the behaviour of the viruses,where the COVID-19 spike protein  enables it to attach itself to human cells, making the disease highly contagious whereas human-to-human transmission of hantavirus is extremely rare due to the location in which the glycoproteins bind to the human body. 

With 7.11 million confirmed deaths and 22.1 million regarded as excess mortality, COVID-19 was a public health crisis (Mathieu, 2024). It severely strained healthcare, triggered the deepest global economic recession since World War II, and altered our way of living. The trajectory of its long-term impacts have left a permanent scar on global systems and various industries. Considering these negative implications, one’s fear for the future of hantavirus and its growth may be a sense of deja vu. However, healthcare professionals analyse the event of another global pandemic due to hantavirus as being “nearly impossible” (Rodriguez, 2026). The bottom line is that although hantavirus is dangerous to those affected, due to its slow incubation and low transmission rates, the outbreak will most likely never lead to a global pandemic. 

Regardless, these claims remain as hypothesised, an educated prediction. Therefore, it is our responsibility to take agency in questioning such propositions to further refine the presented information through new data and logical proof, driving scientific breakthroughs.

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