Health Officials Trying to Trace and Contain Deadly Hantavirus Outbreak
5/6/202614 min
P.M. Edition for May 6. A patient in Switzerland has been hospitalized with a strain of hantavirus after returning from a cruise to South America. Three people who traveled on that cruise ship have died. Journal reporter Xavier Martinez discusses what’s concerning about the virus and what health officials are doing about it. Plus, media titan Ted Turner, who created CNN and shaped the cable-TV industry, has died at 87. And as some companies lay off workers because of AI, others are keeping their headcount, but they expect workers to do more. We hear from WSJ workplace reporter Chip Cutter about what that means for their workers. Alex Ossola hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsTed Turner· Soundbite0:00
It's time to get Brex AF, agentic finance that eliminates manual work and puts you in control. Learn more at brex.com/af.
Alex Ossola· Host0:06
[upbeat music] What we know about the hantavirus that has killed three people on a cruise ship and sickened several more. Plus, Ted Turner, who helped shape modern cable TV, has died at age eighty-seven. And some companies are cutting jobs because of AI. Those that don't expect their workers to do more work.
Chip Cutter· Guest0:26
The days of sort of certainty and routine and having a clear career path are kind of over.
Alex Ossola· Host0:32
It's Wednesday, May 6th. I'm Alex Osolef for The Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that moved the world today. [upbeat music] We start our show today talking about hantavirus. It's a rare but deadly disease that's in focus right now after an outbreak on a cruise ship that's killed at least three people. Now, a man in Switzerland who had been a passenger on that cruise ship has been hospitalized with the virus. He got sick after returning from a trip to South America at the end of last month. For more on the outbreak, I'm joined by WSJ reporter Xavier Martinez. Xavier, why are people concerned about this outbreak?
Xavier Martinez· Guest1:12
The concern here is that most hantaviruses only spread from rodents like mice or rats to humans. That's how they reach humans. But there is one strain found in South America called the Andes virus, and that can transmit between humans, and so the concern is that