I know it's been about a week since op made this post but I want to add some things for the sake of information:
There's no "possibly spreading person to person", it will spread person to person. This is because the variant of the outbreak is the Andes Hantavirus which has both rodent to person and person to person contagion. There is no evidence about person to rodent contagion yet.
While I am aware this is about the US government, it is unscientific to call it "far more deadly" than COVID when you have no evidence of it, just a general sense of sensationalistic anxiety because of these Pesky South American Rats. Even if that is not your intention.
Hantavirus is a well documented disease. It is not even remotely new. Treating it like it isn't is because you're doing it from a global north bias.
Hantavirus has a lesser degree of contagion than COVID. It is also entirely preventable. This doesn't mean there couldn't be another pandemic: however, we do not know that. Hantavirus symptoms mimic other diseases, and if you're not someplace that is actively aware of Hantavirus it might be dismissed.
Chile and Argentina are leaders in the study , prevention and management of Andes Hantavirus. If you want sources on how to deal with it, start looking for our sources. If there's not an English translation, they apply the translator of your choice. Here are some links: WHO webpage on Hantavirus; Chilean Ministry of Health & Associated Services guides on Hantavirus: 1, 2, 3, 4; Argentinian likewise links: 1; I will even link you a paper that systematises the research on Hantavirus prevention.
The core preventive measure when it comes to Hantavirus is cleaning. Ventilate, clean with appropriate disinfectants: Bleach/Chlorine. Sure, mask if you can, but it doesn't replace cleaning.
If you live in a country not familiar with Hantavirus prevention, this is a manageable disease. It is proven to be so. You can highlight the political reality of the USA without also falling into un-scientific and frankly racist/xenophobic rhetoric. It's okay to not know things.
Lockdown would be terrible for people in those countries too, and I am not talking about the irresponsible tourists deciding to take pictures in a landfill. There are marginalised communities in Europe and South Africa as well.
The outbreak began because a Dutch tourist decided to go take pictures of bird in a landfill. Your key takeaway here shouldn't be how you Americans are being irresponsible either bc you want to take up violin in the next pandemic or because you believe you are the most specialiest who will suffer the most. It should be how irresponsible tourism from both the industries and the people who are travelling render international phytosanitary controls useless, which is an active global risk with a price that is not going to be paid by those people. It's that the only reason why this is in the news with as much fanfare as it is, is because its white people catching this Exotic Rat Disease without any credible source taking the time to research about what are you supposed to do to handle Andes Hantavirus, despite there are decades of research and health policies implemented in the countries that have Andes Hantavirus to deal with it.
