TheCable

While it is still battling coronavirus, China has been hit by another virus — hantavirus — which is spread by rodents and can cause varied diseases in people.

The outbreak of the coronavirus began in Wuhan, China, and was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) with more than 390,000 confirmed cases across the world and over 17,000 deaths.

A man from the Yunnan province of the country died on a bus on Monday after testing positive for hantavirus. About 32 other passengers on the bus are currently being monitored by the health officials in the country.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US, though the virus is not new, the case of person-to-person transmission is extremely rare.

The CDC said unlike coronavirus, hantavirus does not spread in the air, but can only be passed on from person to person if they come in contact with urine, faeces, and saliva of rodents. Also, it could be contracted if someone touches their eyes, nose or mouth after touching rodent droppings, urine, or nesting materials

“Rodent infestation in and around the home remains the primary risk for hantavirus exposure. Even healthy individuals are at risk for Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) infection if exposed to the virus,” the CDC said on its website.

Early symptoms of the virus include fever, muscle ache, abdominal pain, dizziness, headache and abdominal problems, such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea. Like COVID-19, late symptoms of the virus are lungs fill with fluid and shortness of breath.