Prasanta Dash, PhD, assistant professor of pharmacology and experimental neuroscience, has published a review article in the journal NeuroImmune Pharmacology and Therapeutics.
Dr. Dash’s paper, Hantavirus: epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical features, transmission, and therapeutic strategies, is a comprehensive overview of the “rare but potentially fatal zoonotic infection” that recently made worldwide news thanks to an outbreak on the cruise ship MV Hondius. Several passengers from this cruise ship were transported to UNMC, Nebraska Medicine and the National Quarantine Unit for monitoring for six weeks through May and June.
The Andes virus (ANDV) these passengers may have been exposed to is the exception to hantaviruses, in that it has shown limited person-to-person transmission.
“During outbreaks involving Andes virus, additional public health measures such as isolation and contact tracing may be required for close contacts due to the potential for limited human-to-human transmission,” Dr. Dash wrote.
Howard Gendelman, MD, Margaret R. Larson Professor of Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, is editor-in-chief of NeuroImmune Pharmacology and Therapeutics.