French Health Minister Stéphanie Rist warned that it is still unknown whether the circulating strain of hantavirus has mutated or not, UNN reports, citing Sky News.
Details
Speaking in the French National Assembly, Stéphanie Rist said: "There are things that we do not know."
"We do not yet have the full sequence of the virus... We cannot be sure that this virus has not yet mutated,"
This, the publication notes, is crucial because mutated viruses pose new threats and dangers to scientists and healthcare professionals.
For example, during the COVID pandemic, new strains of COVID were more contagious than previous ones or required adapted vaccines.
The World Health Organization stated that it believes there are 11 confirmed and probable cases of hantavirus infection. Of these, it said, nine have been confirmed as the Andes strain — a branch of hantavirus originating from American rodents.
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