Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently asked questions about hantavirus, the MV Hondius cluster, and the HORIZON surveillance platform.
What is hantavirus?
Hantavirus is a family of rodent-borne viruses (genus Orthohantavirus, family Hantaviridae) that can cause severe disease in humans. The two main syndromes are Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), common in the Americas and caused by Sin Nombre virus and Andes virus, and Haemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome (HFRS), common in Eurasia and caused by Hantaan, Seoul, Puumala, and Dobrava-Belgrade viruses. See the hantavirus overview for the full picture.
How is hantavirus transmitted?
Most hantaviruses are transmitted from rodents to humans by inhalation of aerosolised excreta (urine, faeces, saliva). Direct rodent bites and mucous-membrane contact are documented but rare. Andes virus is the sole exception — it has documented person-to-person transmission, primarily between close household contacts. Hantaviruses are not transmitted by mosquitoes or ticks. Full breakdown on the transmission page.
What are the symptoms of hantavirus disease?
Initial symptoms appear 1 to 8 weeks after exposure: fever, severe muscle aches (myalgia), fatigue, headache, and gastrointestinal upset. In HPS, this progresses to coughing, shortness of breath, and pulmonary oedema — case-fatality 30 to 50 percent. In HFRS, patients develop kidney failure, low platelets, and bleeding — case-fatality 1 to 15 percent depending on serotype. See the full symptoms page.
Is there a vaccine or treatment for hantavirus?
South Korea licenses Hantavax for Hantaan virus. No vaccine is licensed in the EU or US. Treatment is supportive critical care — fluid management, mechanical ventilation, ECMO, and renal replacement therapy. Ribavirin shows benefit in early HFRS but not HPS. Detailed treatment information is available.
Which countries report hantavirus cases?
Cases are reported across the Americas (Argentina, Chile, Brazil, USA, Canada, Panama, Bolivia, Paraguay), Europe (Germany, Finland, Russia, Belgium, France, Balkans), east Asia (China, South Korea, Japan, Russian Far East), and parts of Africa and southeast Asia. HORIZON maintains a country-by-country page.
What is the MV Hondius hantavirus cluster?
An Andes virus cluster aboard the polar expedition cruise ship MV Hondius (IMO 9818709, MMSI 244327000, Oceanwide Expeditions, NL flag). Suspected pre-departure exposure during a wildlife excursion near Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. The cluster is being tracked by WHO, ECDC, CDC, PAHO, and Argentine Ministerio de Salud. Live timeline and ontology at /outbreaks/mv-hondius-2026.
How can I prevent hantavirus infection?
Reduce rodent populations around homes; never sweep or vacuum dry excreta (it aerosolises virus); wear an N95/FFP3 respirator and wet contaminated surfaces with 1:10 bleach before cleaning. Campers and hikers in endemic regions should avoid sleeping near rodent nests. Full evidence-based protocol on the prevention page.
What is HORIZON?
HORIZON is a live hantavirus surveillance platform operated by 79th Unit Limited (UK Companies House 17133814). It aggregates outbreak signal from WHO, US CDC, ECDC, PAHO, ProMED, national authorities, peer-reviewed literature, and open news. Every record carries audit-grade source provenance per ICD 206, NATO Admiralty Scale, dual confidence, and Berkeley Protocol chain-of-custody. All data is open under CC BY 4.0. Read the full methodology.
How accurate are the case counts?
Case counts on HORIZON come from authoritative public-health bulletins (WHO Disease Outbreak News, ECDC weekly threats reports, CDC HAN, PAHO updates, national-authority statements). News reports are stored as corroborating evidence but only auto-applied to per-country totals when a NATO A/B source or three independent corroborating sources within 48h confirm. Anti-inflation caps prevent cluster-total numbers from mis-attributing to a single country. The full audit trail per number is on the methodology page.
Can I use this data?
Yes. All HORIZON data is released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. Mirror it, scrape it, index it, train models on it. The only requirement is attribution to 79th Unit Limited. JSON endpoints: OpenAPI schema.
How is this different from CDC, WHO, or ECDC?
Those are authoritative primary sources. HORIZON is an aggregator and surveillance layer that sits on top of them — pulling in WHO/CDC/ECDC/PAHO bulletins, cross-referencing peer-reviewed literature, layering open news, and presenting a single live ontology with every claim provenance-traced. Use the primary sources for clinical or regulatory decisions; use HORIZON for situational awareness and OSINT-quality outbreak monitoring.
Why is the case count different from a news article I read?
News articles routinely conflate per-country counts with cluster totals (an NBC article saying "3 deaths" when the cluster has 3 deaths total, but the deaths occurred in Netherlands and South Africa — not the US). HORIZON resolves to per-country authoritative totals from WHO and ECDC and discards cluster-total misattributions. See methodology for the anti-inflation logic.
How do I report a missing source or an error?
Email security@79thunit.co.uk — coordinates and disclosure policy in the security.txt. Corrections to specific case records should include the record ID and a source citation.