Thirteen people on a cruise ship have been struck down by a mystery illness causing severe flu-like symptoms. Two have died, others are in a critical condition, and everyone else on the ship is terrified. Is help on its way? Will they be allowed off? What’s infecting everyone? IS THIS THE NEXT PANDEMIC??
When the recent hantavirus news broke, Dr Charlotte Hammer, Assistant Professor in Health Security and Infectious Diseases, stepped up to help international media cover the story. But how could she speak so authoritatively about dealing with a rare virus she’s not a specialist in?
“The great thing about field epidemiology training is that rather than becoming a specialist in a pathogen, we learn the skills to respond to outbreaks whatever they are - even if the pathogen has never been encountered before,” says Hammer.
Dr Charlotte Hammer
“Many of the media questions I answered about the hantavirus outbreak had relatively little to do with the specific virus - like figuring out how it was spreading and what to do with the infected people, and how different nations would coordinate a response given there were people from various countries on board the ship."
