Topline
Health experts have expressed concern for the readiness of the United States to handle a widespread outbreak of hantavirus after it was revealed a number of passengers have returned to the U.S. after disembarking a cruise ship before they realized a contagious and deadly disease was circulating onboard.
Timeline
Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, CEO of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, says the United States is “not prepared” to handle a hantavirus outbreak after Trump-era cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and USAID, as well as the country’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization.
Doctors speak up to dispute a viral online claim that ivermectin, an FDA-approved parasitic most commonly used as a dewormer for livestock, could be used to treat hantavirus.
Oceanwide Expeditions, operator of the cruise ship MV Hondius, says at least 29 living passengers from 12 countries disembarked the ship and went home after the death of the first passenger on board (before officials knew of the outbreak). Those countries are Canada, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, Sweden, Singapore, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States.
Texas health officials have said they are tracking two residents—who are not showing symptoms—who were passengers on the MV Hondius, the cruise ship connected to the cases.
Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, director of WHO, says some of those passengers shared an airplane to Johannesburg with a woman from the ship who later died.
Ghebreyesus says none of the remaining passengers or crew aboard the MV Hondius are symptomatic, but that “it is possible more cases will be reported” because it can be up to six weeks before those infected with the Andes variant of hantavirus show symptoms. He insisted the public health risk remains “low.”
A Dutch flight attendant who has developed mild symptoms is being tested for the disease after she briefly came into contact with one of the deceased hantavirus patients.
An international team of scientists is working to create a vaccine against hantavirus, the BBC reported.
The CDC reportedly tells employees Luis Rodríguez, the American official responsible for public health on cruise ships, is retiring. There is no word on who will replace him.
WHO epidemic expert Maria Van Kerkhove tells reporters, “This is not the next COVID, but it is a serious infectious disease. Most people will never be exposed to this.”
The World Health Organization confirms the number of lab-proven hantavirus cases has risen to five and there are still at least three additional suspected cases among cruise ship passengers and crew.
Argentine officials suggested the hantavirus outbreak could have originated from a bird-watching outing that took the deceased Dutch couple to a landfill, where they may have been exposed to rodents carrying the virus before boarding the ship, the Associated Press reported.
Health officials confirm the deadly hantavirus outbreak is of a particular disease strain called Andes, one of the deadliest variants of the hantavirus and the only known strain that transmits from person to person.
Spanish health minister Monica Garcia says the MV Hondius is en route to the Granadilla port in Tenerife, Canary Islands, where passengers will be allowed to leave the ship by May 11. Spanish citizens and those with symptoms will be quarantined, and people from other countries with no symptoms will be sent home.
Three people in need of medical care, including two in “serious” condition, are evacuated from the MV Hondius and flown to the Netherlands by an air ambulance.
A man who traveled on an earlier leg of the ship’s trip before flying home to Switzerland is hospitalized in Zurich with a strain of the hantavirus. It is the first case stemming from the MV Hondius in which a patient got sick after his return to the mainland, and authorities say they are working to contact trace any possible spread of the illness.
The South African Department of Health says tests performed on infected passengers of the the MV Hondius confirm the Andes virus, one of the deadliest hantavirus diseases with a roughly 40% case fatality rate, is what infected passengers onboard the ship.
The World Health Organization confirms a strain of hantavirus is spreading aboard the ship, with two lab-confirmed cases and five more suspected cases.
Cape Verdean authorities refuse to allow the MV Hondius to dock at the port of Praia, a decision they said is to protect public health.
A German national dies aboard the MV Hondius.
A British passenger is medically evacuated to South Africa from the ship, and is treated in an intensive care unit in Johannesburg. He is confirmed to have a variant of hantavirus.
The wife of the first victim dies in Johannesburg after collapsing at an airport in South Africa. She was confirmed to have had a variant of the hantavirus.
A 70-year-old Dutch man dies on board the MV Hondius and, nearly two weeks later, his body is taken off the ship., with his cause of death still under investigation, according to the New York Times.
The MV Hondius leaves Ushuaia, Argentina.
Crucial Quote
“It’s been quite a mammoth effort,” professor Robin May, chief scientific officer at the UK Health Security Agency, said of contact tracing the ship’s passengers. “We will continue to do that if other information arises.”
Where Is The Mv Hondius?
As of Thursday, the ship is off the coast of West Africa cruising en route to the Canary Islands. Passengers are isolating in their cabins and teams of doctors, surgeons, nurses and laboratory specialists in protective gear are aboard the ship.
Big Number
Almost 150. That’s how many people are stuck onboard the Mv Hondius. That total counts people from across 23 countries, including 17 Americans.
Key Background
The MV Hondius left Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1 for the Canary Islands off the coast of northwestern Africa, visiting some of the world’s most remote islands along the way. The ship made stops in Antarctica, South Georgia, Nightingale Island, Tristan da Cunha, St. Helena (where the Dutch man’s body was taken from the ship) and Ascension Island, where the British man was medically evacuated. The ship then sailed for the port of Praia in Cape Verde, but was denied permission to dock. There have been three confirmed cases and five suspected cases linked to the outbreak so far. Three people have died.
Tangent
A passenger who was aboard the MV Hondius before disembarking several weeks into the journey told the BBC the operator of the cruise ship “didn’t inform us about any potential viruses” after the death of the ship’s first passenger amid the outbreak. Ruhi Cenet, a Turkish Youtuber, told the agency he is “very unhappy” with how the outbreak was handled and that despite being onboard for almost two weeks after the man’s death, passengers were told the man was “not infections” and, therefore, the remaining passengers took no health and safety precautions. “We were together in the lecture rooms. We were all together during breakfast, lunch and dinner. I’m talking about over 100 passengers. People were socializing, they were sitting side by side,” Cenet said of life onboard ship. The ship’s operator has said it could not have informed passengers of the disease any sooner because they did not know what killed him and believed his death to be an isolated incident.
What Is The Andes Hantavirus?
Andes is the only hantavirus strain known to be transmitted person to person. People typically get hantavirus from contact with rodents like rats and mice—normally when exposed to their urine, droppings and saliva, or sometimes through a bite or scratch—but officials say no rodents have been found on the MV Hondius ship. Andes is found in South America, specifically Argentina and Chile, and person-to-person transmission has been associated only with close and prolonged contact during the early phase of illness, when the virus is more transmissible. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says symptoms of hantavirus usually emerge within a week or two, but can take up to eight weeks in some cases. The agency insists there is a “low” risk to the wider population and agency information shows transmission of the Andes virus is very low when appropriate infection prevention and control measures are taken.
What Are The Symptoms Of Hantavirus?
Hantaviruses cause two syndromes: hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, mostly found in the Western Hemisphere, and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, found mostly in Europe and Asia. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome causes fatigue, fever, muscle aches, abdominal problems, headaches, chills and dizziness in the early stages, and late symptoms include chest tightness, coughing, shortness of breath and lungs filling with fluid. Of those who develop respiratory symptoms, the mortality rate is 38%. Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome affects the kidneys and causes a wide range of symptoms, including blurred vision, low blood pressure, acute shock, internal bleeding and kidney failure. The severity of the disease varies on the strain of hantavirus, and mortality rates range from less than 1% to 15%.
How Is Hantavirus Treated?
There is no specific treatment for hantavirus infections and patients usually receive supportive care like supplemental oxygen for respiratory issues and dialysis in the case of kidney failure.
Surprising Fact
Betsy Arakawa, the wife of actor Gene Hackman, died in February 2025 from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. She was 65.
