Pandemic

The media coverage that is being carried out around the hantavirus is generating fear of the virusbut also mice. Even the president of the Government of the Canary Islands used Artificial Intelligence to check if mice swim, fearing that they could cause an outbreak in the Canary Islands with arrival at the port of Granadilla of the MV Hondius cruise ship. This particular piece of information makes for a lot of conversation. However, we are going to ignore it to focus on what is truly important. Should we be worried about mice during this health emergency situation? The reality is that not much. To begin with, we must remember that There are many different hantaviruses. The cause of the outbreak on the cruise ship is the Andes variant, the only one known to be able to be transmitted from person to person. Even so, it is still a zoonosis. That is, the initial contagion always comes from an animal, in this case a mouse. But not just any mouse. In the Andes variant, Its main reservoir is the long-tailed mouse (Oligoryzomys longicaudatus), characteristic of the forests of Chile and Argentina. Seropositivity has been detected in some other species of South American rodents. However, these are much more anecdotal cases. The vast majority of infections initially come from the long-tailed mouse. Now, this must be put into context and, above all, clarify some important terms. What is the reservoir of a virus? The reservoir of a virus is the organism, place or environment where the virus better replicated and maintained over time. Generally this concept is used to talk about animal reservoirs. These are the animals in which a virus reproduces best. Normally they do not experience symptoms, but their immune system does not attack them in the same way as ours would, since They usually develop tolerance. That is, the immune system detects them, but The inflammatory response that causes the symptoms of the disease is suppressed. Said in a very colloquial and simple way, it is the house in which a virus lives and grows most comfortably. Many times, humans are accidental hosts of viruses. They have mechanisms to invade our cells, so animals can pass them to us. Sometimes we can even infect each other. However, we are like a house in which they live in transit and discomfort, with the immune system attacking them in a much more excessive way. It would be that rental apartment that is falling apart, where you live until you find something better, if the house doesn’t fall on you first. In the case of the Andes hantavirus, Its main reservoir is the long-tailed mouse. This rodent does not get sick when the virus enters its cells. Therefore, the hantavirus can multiply in them, reaching very high viral loads for a long time. The long-tailed mouse lives mostly in forests in Argentina and Chile. How is it spread? A good part of these viral particles are found in mouse feces and other secretions. When these are dry, they can become dust, easily inhaled by humans. In fact, it is often spread when people in rural environments sweep in places where these animals have deposited their feces. Sweeping raises virus-laden dust. This is why, in areas where it is suspected that this mouse may be, it is recommended Use bleach and do not dry sweep. If this is done, gloves and a mask should be worn to avoid inhaling the dust from the feces. In the case of the cruise, it is not known exactly how patient zero could have been infected. It’s not even 100% clear who he is. But it is suspected that he could have been the first deceased, since he was fond of birds and went on birdwatching excursions in rural areas of Argentina, going into caves where there could be mice. When stepping on feces such a closed environmentthe dust could have concentrated in the air and caused the initial contagion. What does it mean that other rodents have shown seropositivity in Andes hantavirus? Seropositivity against a virus is the presence of antibodies generated by the immune system to fight it. That a mouse is seropositive for the Andes virus means that it has passed the virus. Plain and simple. It could be a reservoir or it could not be. It is known that he has survived, but it is not known if he has shown symptoms or if the virus has replicated efficiently in his body. The only mouse with which this is well demonstrated is the long-tailed mouse. That is why it is considered the main reservoir of the Andes hantavirus. Beyond that, we can only speculate. Of course, what is clear is that it is a virus that is only abundant in Chile and Argentina, where this rodent is mostly distributed. Can you swim? Yes, the long-tailed mouse can swim. It normally lives in forests where there may be bodies of water, which it sometimes has to cross to get from one point to another. Now, does this have any implications for the health crisis of the Hondius? The answer is emphatically no. First of all, It would be extremely rare if one of these mice had traveled on the ship without being seen. It is true that in the past there were diseases, such as the plague, in the spread of which the rats that traveled on ships played a significant role. However, at present this is highly unlikely. Plus, we’re talking about a luxury cruise. It is not normal for a mouse to travel undetected inside a ship. The most accepted hypothesis currently is that patient zero must have been infected outside the ship. On the other hand, even if the virus had reached the Canary Islands, it is one thing to swim through the ponds of a forest and quite another to cross the sea from the anchored boat to the port. We should not fear any rodent Could Spanish mice … Read more