12 Zoonotic Diseases Transmitted Between Animals and Humans

9. Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome - The Rodent-Associated Respiratory Threat

Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) represents a severe and often fatal zoonotic disease caused by New World hantaviruses, with Sin Nombre virus being the most common causative agent in North America, demonstrating how previously unknown pathogens can emerge from wildlife reservoirs to cause devastating human disease. These negative-sense RNA viruses are maintained in specific rodent reservoir species through persistent, asymptomatic infections, with each hantavirus species typically associated with a particular rodent host, such as Sin Nombre virus in deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus), Black Creek Canal virus in cotton rats, and Andes virus in long-tailed pygmy rice rats. Human infection occurs primarily through inhalation of aerosolized virus particles present in the urine, feces, or saliva of infected rodents, typically in enclosed spaces where contaminated materials have been disturbed, such as cabins, barns, sheds, or other structures that have been infested with rodents. The clinical course of HPS is characterized by a rapid progression from a nonspecific prodromal phase with fever, myalgia, and fatigue to a cardiopulmonary phase marked by acute pulmonary edema, severe hypotension, and shock, with case fatality rates ranging from 35-50% despite intensive medical care. The pathogenesis involves increased capillary permeability leading to pulmonary edema and shock, mediated by immune responses and direct viral effects on endothelial cells