About — Hantavirus Monitor

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Peter Cohen

Creator & Developer

I built this site to provide a clear, data-driven view of global Hantavirus risk — an often under-reported but potentially serious zoonotic disease. Rather than manually scanning health news every day, I wanted a single dashboard that automatically reads the feeds and surfaces a threat rating.

The site was built with AI assistance via Claude Code, co-developed with the technical expertise of Kevin Ankrom.

🌐 petercohen.org

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Kevin Ankrom

Co-Developer & AI Consultant · PerformanceFunnel Consultancy

Kevin Ankrom is a Performance Sport Executive and technology consultant based in Illinois, operating through PerformanceFunnel Consultancy, where he specializes in athletic intelligence, learning systems, and AI-driven strategy.

Kevin brings deep technical and AI expertise to this project — he holds certifications in AI for Research and Insights (Google, 2026) and Claude 101 & Claude Code in Action (Anthropic, 2026). His track record includes building a social publishing platform, the Track IQ app for coaches, 240+ instructional modules for USA Volleyball and World Athletics, and a US Patent for PerformanceFunnel (TX 7-423-752).

💼 LinkedIn

About Hantavirus

Hantavirus is a family of viruses spread mainly by rodents. Humans become infected through contact with infected rodents or their droppings. There are two main disease presentations: Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), common in the Americas and caused by viruses like Sin Nombre and Andes; and Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome (HFRS), prevalent in Europe and Asia, caused by Hantaan, Seoul, Dobrava, and Puumala viruses.

The Andes virus, found in Patagonia (Argentina and Chile), is the only known Hantavirus with documented human-to-human transmission. Most strains do not spread person-to-person. Case fatality rates range from 1% (Puumala) to 35–40% (Sin Nombre HPS).

The MV Hondius, plotted on our map, is an expedition vessel operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, currently positioned near Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway — a region where Puumala virus (carried by bank voles) has been documented in Scandinavia.

How This Site Works

Fetch — RSS feeds from Reuters, BBC, WHO, ProMED, CIDRAP, Outbreak News Today, AP, NPR, and other major health and news outlets are scanned for articles mentioning Hantavirus.

Score — Each article is scored using ~60 weighted keywords. Words like "epidemic," "deaths," and "spreading" push the score negative (more dangerous). Words like "contained," "rare," and "controlled" push it positive. Title hits count double.

Rate — The aggregate score is converted to a 1–10 Threat Rating and a status of Monitoring, Elevated, or Critical. Each article is also individually classified as Low, Moderate, or High risk.

Visualize — Bar charts and pie charts break down the sentiment by source and over time, so you can see how reporting aligns or diverges across outlets.

Map — Known Hantavirus endemic regions are marked on an interactive map alongside the current position of the MV Hondius expedition vessel.

Links

🌐 petercohen.org 🌊 Strait of Hormuz Watch 🏥 CDC Hantavirus 🏥 WHO Hantavirus

⚠ This site uses automated keyword scoring — not clinical or epidemiological expertise. Threat ratings are based on news sentiment only. Always refer to the CDC, WHO, or your local health authority for authoritative public health guidance. Do not use this site to make health or travel decisions.