Editorial Voice
Maya Okafor
Maya turns complex source material into clear, steady context.
Articles using this voice
12 90-Second Reads currently use this editorial voice.
WIRED
90-Second Read: Could Contact-Tracing Apps Help With the Hantavirus? Not Really
May 10, 7:00 AM EDT
There is no use of apps for this Hantavirus outbreak," Emily Gurley, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University, wrote in an email response to WIRED. Contact tracing also struggled to maintain accuracy, and in some cases could be providing false negatives or positives that don't help further real information about the spread of the virus. Especially in the case of something like the Hantavirus, where every person on that cruise ship can theoretically be directly tracked and contacted, it's better to do that process the hard way. Contact-tracing apps were widely deployed during the Covid pandemic. After three people died on a cruise ship struck by a Hantavirus, authorities are actively tracking down 29 people who had left the ship.
Earth.com
90-Second Read: Rare Hantavirus outbreak has scientists on edge over fears of a person-to-person global outbreak
May 9, 8:11 PM EDT
A deadly cruise ship outbreak was linked to Andes Hantavirus, a rodent-borne disease that can cause severe lung and kidney illness in humans. Hantavirus has stormed back into global headlines after a deadly outbreak aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius killed three passengers off the coast of West Africa. Today, scientists recognize dozens of Hantaviruses across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. The Hantavirus family is named after Korea's Hantan River. New World strains in the Americas cause Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which floods the lungs and kills up to 40 percent of patients.
Inquirer.com
90-Second Read: Experts wonder 'Where is the CDC?' as a Hantavirus outbreak unfolds on a cruise ship
May 9, 12:23 PM EDT
To experts, the situation aboard a cruise ship has not spiraled because, unlike COVID-19 or measles or the flu, Hantavirus does not spread easily. It has been health experts in other countries, not the United States, who have been dealing primarily with the outbreak in the past week. The Hantavirus outbreak is "a sentinel event" that speaks to "how well the country is prepared for a disease threat. Health officials confirmed the deployment of a team to Spain's Canary Islands, where the ship was expected to arrive early Sunday local time, to meet the Americans onboard. The CDC's diminished role in this outbreak is an indicator the agency is no longer the force in international health or the protector of domestic health that it once was, some experts said.
Yahoo
90-Second Read: These are the 6 U.S. states monitoring residents for potential Hantavirus exposure ahead of the cruise ship's Sunday arrival in Tenerife
May 9, 11:35 AM EDT
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a Health Alert Network advisory on Friday alerting doctors and state health departments to watch for potential imported cases, ABC News reported. Local health officials are in contact with the one returned passenger," the department said, adding that public health protocol includes daily temperature checks and assessments for symptoms consistent with Hantavirus. The New Jersey residents were not passengers on the cruise ship, and the potential exposure occurred during air travel abroad," the department said in a statement. The Arizona Department of Health Services said it is monitoring one resident who was a passenger on the MV Hondius. The California Department of Public Health said Friday it is monitoring one resident who returned from the cruise ship.
Fortune
90-Second Read: As Hantavirus outbreak unfolds, the CDC is missing in action, experts say. 'I’m very sorry to say that we are not prepared'
May 9, 10:34 AM EDT
But experts say the situation has not spiraled because, unlike COVID-19 or measles or the flu, Hantavirus does not spread easily. I've never seen that before." The CDC's diminished role in this outbreak is an indicator the agency is no longer the force in international health or the protector of domestic health that it once was, some experts said. The Hantavirus outbreak is "a sentinel event" that speaks to "how well the country is prepared for a disease threat. It has been experts in other countries, not the United States, who have been dealing primarily with the outbreak in the past week. And right now, I'm very sorry to say that we are not prepared," said Dr.
Medical Xpress
90-Second Read: Hantavirus and tuberculosis cases: Should we be worried?
May 9, 9:00 AM EDT
Recent news reports have highlighted several infectious diseases incidents, including three tuberculosis clusters in Singapore and a suspected Hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is a lung disease seen in the outbreak on the Atlantic cruise ship. Thirteen cases across three clusters over three years is a localized public health concern, but it does not signal a wider outbreak and carries no pandemic potential. Here are responses to these cases by infectious disease experts from Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore. According to Professor Ooi Eng Eong, Emerging Infectious Diseases Signature Research Program, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, Hantaviruses are a group of viruses that are naturally found in rodents, including urban rats like the brown and black rats in Singapore.
CNBC
90-Second Read: There's little chance of a Hantavirus global outbreak. What the latest odds say
May 9, 8:59 AM EDT
Prediction markets like Kalshi show slim chance that the Hantavirus outbreak will be of international concern For now, prediction market traders aren't too worried about the Hantavirus. Kalshi data shows only a 21% chance of the Hantavirus outbreak will be a concern this year. Spanish health officials said Friday that a woman in the country's southeastern region has symptoms consistent with Hantavirus, Reuters reported. The prediction markets platform opened its market on the Hantavirus on Wednesday night, noting it will be resolved if the World Health Organization verifies that the virus is "a public health emergency of international concern" in 2026. On Friday, volume related to the outbreak hit over $174,000, the highest out of any market that opened in that time.
LAist
90-Second Read: Contact tracing could be key in halting the spread of Hantavirus. Here's how it works
May 9, 8:00 AM EDT
Here's how authorities are using the practice of contact tracing to contain the outbreak and keep the Hantavirus from spreading. The concept of modern contact tracing dates to the 1930s and was part of an effort to stop the spread of syphilis. Public health officials argue that contact tracing is a powerful approach that will reduce further spread. The race is on to find all passengers who left the infected cruise ship to monitor their health — and the health of those they've interacted with. The risk of further spread of this virus is low since it requires close and prolonged contact with an infected individual — and those infected seem to transmit the virus for only a brief period of time.
Detroit Free Press
90-Second Read: Can you catch Hantavirus in Michigan? What experts say
May 8, 6:25 PM EDT
Global health leaders are scrambling to establish the best protocol for managing an outbreak of the deadly Hantavirus aboard a Dutch cruise ship set to reach land Sunday, May 10, in the Canary Islands. There are several types of Hantavirus that can cause rare, but deadly illnesses, according to the CDC and the University of Michigan Health-Sparrow. Michigan health officials reported just one case of Hantavirus in the state: A woman from Washtenaw County was sickened with the Sin Nombre type of Hantavirus in 2021, which is linked to exposure to the urine, feces and saliva of infected deer mice and white-footed mice. Some of the ship's passengers already have disembarked and returned home — including seven Americans who now are in the states of Arizona, California, Georgia, Texas and.
Atlanta News First
90-Second Read: CDC declares ‘Level 3′ emergency response to Hantavirus outbreak
May 8, 4:03 PM EDT
The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has classified the Hantavirus outbreak as a Level 3 emergency, which is the agency's lowest level. A Level 2 designation would require the agency's Hantavirus experts to lead the response with a large number of other experts. The World Health Organization (WHO) considers the risk to the wider public from the outbreak as low, and on Friday, confirmed that a flight attendant on a plane briefly boarded by an infected cruise passenger had tested negative. As part of the designation, the CDC is assigning disease experts to lead its response, and has activated its Emergency Operations Centers to assist. CDC staffers are on their way to meet an estimated 17 Americans on board the MV Hondius, the Dutch-flagged cruise ship at.
USA Today
90-Second Read: Is Hantavirus in the US? States monitoring people for possible exposure
May 8, 3:41 PM EDT
Among those connected to the MV Hondius, a cruise ship run by Netherlands-based operator Oceanwide Expeditions, eight people have had either suspected or confirmed cases of Hantavirus as of May 7, according to the World Health Organization. Here's what Americans need to know about Hantavirus in the U.S., including which states are monitoring returning passengers. There have been no Hantavirus cases – suspected or confirmed – reported in the United States from the MV Hondius outbreak. No cases tied to the outbreak have been reported in the United States, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the overall risk to Americans is low. Officials in five states have confirmed they are monitoring residents who recently traveled on board the MV Hondius for Hantavirus symptoms.
Time Magazine
90-Second Read: How to Manage Your Health Anxiety About Hantavirus
May 8, 2:59 PM EDT
A Hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship is triggering COVID flashbacks. Scroll through any newsfeed right now, and you'll see news of a cruise ship with a cluster of fatal Hantavirus cases—and a collective freak-out unfolding in real time. It's too soon to know exactly how the outbreak will play out (though health experts insist that Hantavirus is not COVID, and the risk to the general public is low). Howard Markel, a medical historian and author of books including When Germs Travel: Six Major Epidemics That Have Invaded America Since 1900 and the Fears They Have Unleashed, has spent his career studying how societies respond to health threats. In early 2020, plenty of people—including health officials—assumed the virus would burn itself out in a few months.