The memory of the Covid-19 shock shapes how governments and publics react to any new outbreak with even a hint of international spread

A fatal hantavirus cluster has prompted renewed online claims about ivermectin. But the same drug was falsely promoted during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite warnings from public health agencies that evidence did not support its use as a COVID treatment outside clinical trials.

Two Britons are currently isolating in the UK after possible hantavirus exposure on MV Hondius, as the outbreak death toll reaches three.

WHO says the public risk is low, but three deaths linked to the MV Hondius have triggered a multinational investigation into whether passengers were exposed to infected rodents, or whether rare close-contact transmission occurred.