Hantavirus: The Next Pandemic We Are Waiting For?

Abstract

Hantaviruses, albeit reported more than 40 years ago, are now considered emerging viruses' because of their growing importance as human pathogens. Hantavirus created focal news when the paradoxical spread was reported during the world's pandemic battle of the COVID-19, killing a man in Yunnan province of China, further jeopardizing the existing of the human race on the planet earth. In recent years an increasing number of infections and human-to-human transmission is creating a distressing situation. In this short communication, we have focused on the biology, pathogenesis, immunology, epidemiology and future perspective of the Hantaviruses. Our understandings of hantavirus related pandemics and syndrome are limited, the contributing environmental factors, the cellular and viral dynamics in transmission from natural reservoirs to humans and finally, the virology in humans is quite intricate. Priorities for future research suggest that setting up scientific collaboration, the funding, and encouragement of health ministries and the research institutes should take admirable steps to build an understanding of this virus. Discovering new drugs or other therapeutic molecules such as vaccines takes a longer time. Thus with the recent artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the rifle for impending new medicines should be hastened. Last but not least, a data-sharing platform should be provided where all the researchers should share and make available all the necessary information such as genomics, proteomics, host-factors, and other epigenetics information, which will encourage the research collaboration in the preparation against the Hantaviruses.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence; Hantavirus; Human-to-human transmission; Immunology; Transmission.

Fig. 1

The schematic representation of viral attachment and multiplication within the host cell. Image adapted from [22]

Fig. 2

Geographical illustration and per year country wise incidences reported by Douglas Goodin, Kansas State University[37]