Wendy Zuckerman

So think stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea.

And in fact, more than half of the people who actually get diagnosed with Hantavirus end up with severe symptoms.

And that can happen because your immune system kind of gets completely carried away.

It creates this massive inflammatory response.

This is called a cytokine storm.

Cytokines are these small proteins that get secreted by your immune system, and they can go completely haywire during a hantavirus infection, where they can even start to attack your organs.

The same thing can happen with a particularly nasty COVID infection too.

But the thing that sets Hunter virus apart is what happens next.

So as the Hunter virus keeps attacking those cells that it loves, the endothelial cells, and particularly the cells that line our blood vessels,

that lining can start to break down.

The blood vessels become very leaky.

This means the fluid in your blood vessels, the plasma, can now leach into places it's not meant to go, like your lungs.

And fluid can start to build up there.

If this happens, your lungs can't bring in enough oxygen, and patients will tell Michelle, Hmm, I'm coughing, or I'm short of breath, I can't catch my breath.

And at this point, things can start to go downhill really fast as your lungs just keep flooding with fluid.

Another thing that can happen here is called cardiogenic shock.

And it's where your heart stops pumping enough blood to get oxygen to your organs.

And even if you seek medical attention, your chance of surviving isn't great.

We don't have medicine specifically for Hantavirus.

Michelle told us that the only thing she can do is really if you catch it early enough, you can put people on oxygen or even something called an ECMO machine.