Onishchenko reported on the manifestations of hantavirus before the incident on the liner

Hantavirus is a well-known virus that existed and manifested itself for many years even before the cruise ship incident. This was announced on May 20 by Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, epidemiologist, Deputy President of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences Gennady Onishchenko.

"The ship is 170, in my opinion, retired European, rich people who boarded comfortable liners and sailed from Argentina to Cape Verde. But besides that, hantavirus activity is also taking place this year," Onishchenko said during a press conference at the Rossiya Segodnya international multimedia press center

According to him, since the beginning of the year, three cases of hantavirus infection have been registered in the United States. The academician noted that the virus is widespread in other countries, including Russia. He also explained that in the Americas, the disease is more often cardiopulmonary, affecting the heart and lungs, and in Europe, hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome.

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On May 16, Yulia Ermolaeva, an infectious disease specialist at the Institute of Medicine and Medical Technologies at Novosibirsk State University, reported that the Far East, Krasnodar Territory, Urals, Western Siberia and the European part of the country are natural foci of hantavirus in Russia.

Onishchenko reported on May 14 that voles and mice are the main vectors of hantavirus in Russia. According to him, with this disease, the pathogen persists among certain animal species or vectors in nature, and when in contact with humans, it can cause infection.