The names alone are triggering anxiety around the world, one more familiar than the other: Ebola and Hantavirus.
And they have both returned to the global spotlight, on different continents, but with the same outcome: death.
The escalating Ebola outbreak in Central Africa has international health authorities scrambling, while renewed concern around Hantavirus – including rare reports of possible human-to-human spread – has reignited fears about how quickly infectious diseases can evolve.
And while the immediate risk to New Zealanders remains extremely low, epidemiologist Michael Baker tells The Detail they serve as “very important warnings that we [New Zealand] need to support greater health security, and the best thing we can do is support the World Health Organisation (WHO) and global health law.”
Earlier this year, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters questioned the value of the WHO, following the United States’ withdrawal, calling the organisation unelected, globalist bureaucrats. The government also rejected the 2024 amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR).
But Baker says the WHO has been leading the fight against both viruses, and is doing “a great job”, despite resources being scaled back after first-world countries withdrew or reduced donations.
“They are doing all they can, but they actually have very limited resources… and they don’t have many staff available, so that’s the difficulty.”
The focus of The Detail today is the headline-grabbing and deadly viruses.
Ebola is one of the world’s deadliest diseases. It spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids and can trigger severe hemorrhagic fever, causing internal bleeding, organ failure and, in some outbreaks, death rates of up to 50 percent or higher.
Symptoms often begin like the flu, and in severe cases, patients can deteriorate rapidly.
Outbreaks are difficult to contain because the virus spreads through close personal contact, particularly in healthcare settings and during caregiving.
The current outbreak, primarily affecting the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, has raised particular concern because health officials are dealing with a rarer strain, complicating vaccine and treatment responses.
The outbreak has been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the WHO due to the high risk of spread and the lack of effective treatment.
“I am very concerned for the citizens of these countries in Africa, and it looks like history is repeating itself with very intense transmission in the Congo, which has a lot of civil unrest, and that means transmission to adjacent countries like Uganda,” Baker says.
“So, yes, I think this is going to be potentially a prolonged and very severe outbreak.”
He says the risk of transmission, outside of the countries, is low.
Hantavirus is different – but no less frightening. And it returned to the global spotlight last month, after a deadly outbreak on a cruise ship that sailed from Argentina toward Antarctica and then across the Atlantic Ocean. Two New Zealand citizens were on board.
Traditionally, humans catch it through exposure to infected rodents, particularly through urine, droppings or saliva.
Early symptoms can seem deceptively mild: fever, fatigue, body aches and nausea. But once the lungs are affected, patients can decline rapidly, says Baker.
Most strains are not believed to spread easily between people, which is why the recent reports of possible human-to-human transmission have attracted global attention.
The strain that impacted the cruise ship is called Andes.
“It’s the only one of over 20 viruses in this big family that has this ability for human-to-human transmission,” says Baker. “It’s not very common. Just a few outbreaks have been recorded, but enough to know that this is quite possible.
“The fatality risk if you get this infection is up around 30 percent, so it’s a very dangerous infection.”
Baker admits he is “more concerned” about future global pandemics. He says it comes down to “two major factors” – one, humans are “disrupting ecosystems around the globe to a greater extent”, in part because adventure tourism takes people to remote corners; and also, bioengineered pathogens.
“That is the ability to alter microorganisms, like bacteria, to make them far more harmful and transmissible. And undoubtedly, the ability to do this is becoming more widespread.”
He says in most cases, work is done in safe and responsible labs, but “the same technology can also be used by bad actors, and also by people who get radicalised.
“So I think there is just a greater risk of these bioengineered pathogens causing future pandemics. It may be very unexpected and hard to contain.”
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