3 ms·

Trump administration cut funding to study hantavirus

23 points by solid_fuel 6mo ago

AmazingEveryDay 6mo ago
Something about the social media hantavirus engagement seems a bit inorganic, certainly on reddit and also here.
- soupspaces 6mo ago
  Earlier this year it seemed to me to have been happening with silver and it matched with a price hike. Which caused which?
  - sebastiennight 6mo ago
    Buying call options on hantavirus stocks, thanks for the tip
Bender 6mo ago
Surely there are more common diseases that could better utilize the funding. We are also in a war time economy so I would not expect the government to fund anything that is not a weapon unless we are wanting to weaponize Hantavirus. There are very rare but occasional outbreaks in places where mice and rats breed uncontrolled. Public parks mostly in Arizona, California, Colorado and New Mexico where the rental cabins are not occupied for part of the season. The rodents take over the cabins and then humans show up and get infected. Hantavirus is very rare. There have been less than a few hundred cases in the last few decades. There is a rare strain of Hanta in South America has has a 40-50% fatality rate but in most strains the fatality rate is 20% to 40%. It is also very rare in South America and Africa. If that ship has been overtaken by rodents infected with Hanta then quarantine the ship, eliminate the rodents and sanitize the ship. Or capture all the mice and release them into the underground missile cities.
- gnabgib 6mo ago
  Outbreaks are rare because hantavirus[0] comes from rodents, so you might be unlucky and get it - but you can't share it with others. There is, however, one far more dangerous form.. called Andes Virus[1] (notice where the ship started its journey) Andes-hanta can be spread person-to-person. Dangerous in close-quarters, probably a bad region to start a cruise from. [0]: https://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/about/index.html https://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/about/index.html [1]: https://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/about/andesvirus.html https://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/about/andesvirus.html
  - Bender 6mo ago
    I think the key is close quarters transmission is required for ANDV. It requires people to share a bed or have close proximity. This is primarily a threat to family members which means it is much easier to contain than say COVID. This should in theory be easier to track and isolate than monkey-pox. It could however be a threat to other people in a hospital so they may have to dedicate a wing of a hospital to these people. They would know who was on the ship and could follow their path. I am not suggesting it is not a threat but I think it's being blown out of proportion.
    - gnabgib 6mo ago
      It is much worse than that - not airborne, but touching the same surfaces: KLM flight attendant hospitalized after contact with hantavirus (33 points, 13 hours ago, 22 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48048121 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48048121
      - Bender 6mo ago
        I think that aligns with what I said. It's a path that can be traced. Not a fun exercise by any means but I think it's doable by the CDC. They and the WHO train for this all the time.
        gnabgib 6mo ago
sltkr 6mo ago
https://archive.is/Ik3Sl https://archive.is/Ik3Sl

23 points by solid_fuel 6mo ago

AmazingEveryDay 6mo ago

Something about the social media hantavirus engagement seems a bit inorganic, certainly on reddit and also here.

soupspaces 6mo ago
Earlier this year it seemed to me to have been happening with silver and it matched with a price hike. Which caused which?
- sebastiennight 6mo ago
  Buying call options on hantavirus stocks, thanks for the tip

Bender 6mo ago

Surely there are more common diseases that could better utilize the funding. We are also in a war time economy so I would not expect the government to fund anything that is not a weapon unless we are wanting to weaponize Hantavirus. There are very rare but occasional outbreaks in places where mice and rats breed uncontrolled. Public parks mostly in Arizona, California, Colorado and New Mexico where the rental cabins are not occupied for part of the season. The rodents take over the cabins and then humans show up and get infected. Hantavirus is very rare. There have been less than a few hundred cases in the last few decades. There is a rare strain of Hanta in South America has has a 40-50% fatality rate but in most strains the fatality rate is 20% to 40%. It is also very rare in South America and Africa. If that ship has been overtaken by rodents infected with Hanta then quarantine the ship, eliminate the rodents and sanitize the ship. Or capture all the mice and release them into the underground missile cities.

gnabgib 6mo ago
Outbreaks are rare because hantavirus[0] comes from rodents, so you might be unlucky and get it - but you can't share it with others. There is, however, one far more dangerous form.. called Andes Virus[1] (notice where the ship started its journey) Andes-hanta can be spread person-to-person. Dangerous in close-quarters, probably a bad region to start a cruise from. [0]: https://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/about/index.html https://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/about/index.html [1]: https://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/about/andesvirus.html https://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/about/andesvirus.html
- Bender 6mo ago
  I think the key is close quarters transmission is required for ANDV. It requires people to share a bed or have close proximity. This is primarily a threat to family members which means it is much easier to contain than say COVID. This should in theory be easier to track and isolate than monkey-pox. It could however be a threat to other people in a hospital so they may have to dedicate a wing of a hospital to these people. They would know who was on the ship and could follow their path. I am not suggesting it is not a threat but I think it's being blown out of proportion.
  - gnabgib 6mo ago
    It is much worse than that - not airborne, but touching the same surfaces: KLM flight attendant hospitalized after contact with hantavirus (33 points, 13 hours ago, 22 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48048121 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48048121
    - Bender 6mo ago
      I think that aligns with what I said. It's a path that can be traced. Not a fun exercise by any means but I think it's doable by the CDC. They and the WHO train for this all the time.
      - gnabgib 6mo ago

sltkr 6mo ago

https://archive.is/Ik3Sl https://archive.is/Ik3Sl