Macedonia's Commission for Infectious Diseases met to assess the global spread of the hantavirus-Andes variant, and the conclusion is that the risk in Macedonia is low. The health system is prepared, reagents are available at the Institute for Public Health, and the Clinic for Infectious Diseases has the capacity for urgent cases.

We are not entirely out of harm's way, but the context has to be understood. The case started on the MV Hondius cruise ship, which was sailing from Argentina to Cape Verde in early May. The World Health Organization reported three passengers died from the infection. The cluster has been confirmed in the lab, but assessments say this does not amount to the start of a pandemic.

Hantavirus is not a new virus. It exists in two main disease families: haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (Europe and Asia), and the hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (the Americas). It spreads through contact with infected rodents or with particles of their urine, faeces or saliva. The symptoms - fever, headache, muscle pain, nausea - appear 1 to 8 weeks after exposure.

What matters: the European variants do not spread between humans. The Andes variant, linked to the cruise-ship cluster, can spread between humans - but only in prolonged close contact, and not „quickly and easily” like coronavirus, as the commission stresses. That is important to remember so we don't repeat the same panicked reactions as in 2020.

For Macedonia specifically: zero confirmed cases, and no special measures for travellers at the moment. The Institute is tracking the situation daily. If a confirmed case appears, a protocol kicks in that includes isolation, contact tracing and laboratory confirmation. For now - prevention through simple measures: avoid contact with rodents, good hygiene, clean food storage areas.

Having lived through Covid-19, every piece of news about a virus automatically becomes a headline. That is understandable on a human level. What isn't understandable is the volume of panic being sold on social media. Hantavirus is real. It is not „the new Covid”. And calm institutional responses, like the one from the Macedonian Commission, deserve more attention than internet speculation.