Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential for asymptomatic (a) transmission and (b) infection with hantavirus.

Pre-symptomatic transmission in Andes hantavirus has not been documented. However, as a precautionary principal it should be assumed that there is potential for presymptomatic transmission from two days prior to symptom onset, including early, prodromal symptoms.

From the limited published studies on Andes hantavirus, there is no evidence of asymptomatic transmission or infection. United Kingdom contacts are undergoing serial testing to detect any subclinical infections.

The risk remains very low for members of the general public. Most hantaviruses do not spread between humans, although person-to-person transmission has happened with the Andes hantavirus strain in rare cases.