As the hantavirus outbreak continues into its third week, Access TeleCare’s chief of infectious disease Dr. Jade Le provided expert analysis and perspective on the recent hantavirus outbreak on the cruise ship MV Hondius to Yahoo! News, along with physicians from Harvard, Stanford, and the Mayo Clinic.
As a board-certified infectious disease specialist for nearly 20 years and former Peace Corps volunteer, Dr. Le has cared for patients internationally and, through telemedicine, has cared for patients with rare and unusual infections, including hantavirus, across the U.S.
“It is unlikely that this current outbreak can lead to a pandemic because the rate of transmissibility is so low,” Le said in the article. “The Andes virus … is the only known hantavirus to be transmitted person-to-person. But the average transmission rate is about 3% and can increase to up to 17% in close, intimate contacts. It is not as contagious as [COVID-19].”
Le and the other experts added that the spread of measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases is more of a concern than the spread of the Andes hantavirus. Le urged travelers to make sure they are up to date on all vaccines, especially measles.
