New infections aboard a cruise ship have thrust the hantavirus into the global spotlight. Hantavirus infections remain rare, with only about 1,000 cases reported in the U.S. in more than 30 years. What the world knows about the illness started in 1993 on the Navajo Nation. After struggling to identify the dangerous respiratory illness, medical researchers gained crucial insights from Navajo elders, noting that traditional oral histories had long associated spikes in deer mouse populations — driven by specific rainfall patterns — with deadly disease. That knowledge directly informed the scientific discovery of what we know now as the Sin Nombre virus. The discovery also offers a lesson in public notification of diseases. Early media reports labelled the pathogen as the “Navajo flu”, which stigmatized the community for years afterward. We’ll look at the history of the hantavirus and the current efforts to prevent its spread.
GUESTS
Dean Seneca (Seneca), CEO of Seneca Scientific Solutions+, adjunct professor at the School of Public Health and Health Professions at the University of Buffalo, and Adjunct Instructor at University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
Dr. Steven Bradfute, associate professor in the Center for Global Health at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine Department of Internal Medicine
Dr. Erin Phipps, New Mexico State public health veterinarian
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