Allen acknowledged that this hantavirus outbreak is not likely to spark a pandemic because it’s less contagious than influenza, measles, and SARS-CoV-2. But, he added, “Public-health officials have to be more honest and more humble about how this virus actually spreads. An essential lesson from COVID is that officials should be candid about communicating that we are often learning in real time, and we should shy away from making bold pronouncements that may prove dangerously misleading weeks or months later.” hsph.harvard.edu/news/how-ha…

Honestly, not trying to stir things up or be a contrarian or anything. I do forensic investigations of sick buildings frequently and I approached this w same curiosity - I’m trying to be objective about what’s known and not known, and wanting to understand how it’s spread (so we know how to protect people!) and after reading the parroting about “prolonged close contact”, I went and read the best outbreak investigation we have to date on h2h hantavirus spread and assumed I’d find supporting evidence. Instead I learned that nowhere in that NEJM does it show prolonged close contact is required. In fact, many examples of *the opposite* It’s not esoteric or fear-mongering; it’s important we get this right: -to keep people safe from this, including those who were on the ship, contacts and their families, and the treating medical teams -don’t miss anyone w contact tracing (are we only looking for people w “prolonged close contact”??) -learn as much as we can about Andes strain transmission (there’s very little published on outbreak dynamics)