An epidemiologist from Italy assessed the risk of hantavirus infection in an urban environment

The risk of human-to-human transmission of hantavirus in an urban environment is very low,  Massimo Ciccozzi, an Italian professor and head of the Department of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology at the Biomedical University of Rome said. 
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“We are talking about the Andean variant of hantavirus, and this is the only virus known to us that can be transmitted from person to person through direct contact. In an urban environment, the risk of transmission is very low,”  the Italian epidemiologist said.

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According to Ciccozzi, this is due to the fact that very close and prolonged contact is necessary for the transmission of the virus, since infection between people occurs by airborne droplets.

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An outbreak of the deadly Hantavirus occurred on the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius, which was en route from Argentina to Cape Verde. Three people died. Later, WHO reported the identification of 11 cases of hantavirus, nine of them were confirmed as the Andes strain.