hantavirus

noun

Etymology: Internationalism. Borrowed from taxonomic name Hantavirus, from the name of the Hantan River in South Korea. By surface analysis, Hantan + virus.

1. Any virus of the genus Hantavirus, transmitted by aerosolized rodent excreta or rodent bites, especially the deer mouse. Hantaviruses cause Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS): incubation lasts for 1–5 weeks, sickness begins with fever and muscle aches, followed by shortness of breath and coughing.

   “To reveal the molecular epidemiology of hantaviruses in this region, a total of 374 small mammals (eight species of rodents and one species of shrew) were captured in the Chinese part of the Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island (Heilongjiang Province).[…] Overall, these results suggest that Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island harbors considerable hantavirus diversity.”

   “Officials and experts in Argentina are scrambling to determine if their country is the source of a deadly hantavirus outbreak that has gripped an Atlantic cruise ship, amid reports that a number of passengers have already returned to their home countries.”