It is much worse than that - not airborne, but touching the same surfaces: KLM flight attendant hospitalized after contact with hantavirus (33 points, 13 hours ago, 22 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48048121

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Bender 4 hours ago | parent [-]

I think that aligns with what I said. It's a path that can be traced. Not a fun exercise by any means but I think it's doable by the CDC. They and the WHO train for this all the time.

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gnabgib 3 hours ago | parent [-]

It can be traced as well as airborne? Not easily, not perfectly. One attendant (so far) - they didn't even know she was sick at the time (long gestation). Not whomever cleaned the plane later, took the seat beside hers, checked her boarding pass, checked/retrieved her luggage, used the pass-printing machine right after her, got in the same cab she took to the airport as she got out, held the same escalator railing, held the same transit bar, pressed the same open door buttons, used the same cubicle in the washroom.

	▲	Bender 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		It can be traced as well as airborne? I believe so, yes. AFAIK it is only transmissible via the airborne vector from rodents to humans. Human to human requires physical contact based on my limited reading on the topic.