The Next Pandemic: Hantavirus?

Spread from rodents to humans, old and new world Hantavirus has become endemic in many continents, but are sporadic cases of person-to-person transmission strong enough evidence to fear its pandemic potential?
In April 1993, concerns of a mysterious plague outbreak shook the Native American region bordering Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. After the mysterious deaths of a young Navajo couple in New Mexico, state officials struggled to identify the cause, but were able to link symptoms to a dozen more cases in this region. It was later discovered that a novel species of hantavirus had emerged, known as Sin Nombre Virus (Spanish for “No name”), which eventually claimed the lives of 13 people. This outbreak is now known as the “1993 Four Corners outbreak” and has raised concern about the evolution of hantaviruses.
Orthohantaviruses are a viral genus which are able to cause disease in humans. These are transmitted through inhalation of aerosols from infected rodent excretions and …