{"id":210235,"date":"2026-05-09T13:34:55","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T13:34:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/cdc-says-us-faces-extremely-low-risk-of-hantavirus-infection-updates-usa-today\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T13:34:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T13:34:55","slug":"cdc-says-us-faces-extremely-low-risk-of-hantavirus-infection-updates-usa-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/cdc-says-us-faces-extremely-low-risk-of-hantavirus-infection-updates-usa-today\/","title":{"rendered":"CDC says US faces 'extremely low risk' of hantavirus infection. Updates. – USA Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

The U.S. public faces an “extremely low” risk from hantavirus in the wake of the outbreak of the deadly disease on the M\/V Hondius cruise ship, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.
President Donald Trump<\/a> echoed that sentiment Friday in comments to reporters at the White House, saying, “It seems to be OK . . . We seem to have things under very good control.”
Residents of multiple countries, including the United States, are being monitored after disembarking from the Hondius. Three people have died in connection with the outbreak.
The CDC said U.S. health officials are “actively monitoring and responding to a hantavirus outbreak” linked to the cruise ship. “At this time, the risk to the American public remains extremely low,” the agency said.
Hantavirus is typically a\u00a0rodent-borne virus<\/a>, but officials have confirmed this particular strain to be the\u00a0Andes virus,<\/a>\u00a0which can be transmitted from human to human. Officials believe the outbreak began when\u00a0a married couple<\/a>, Dutch nationals, were infected while they were off the cruise ship, engaging in wildlife expeditions.\u00a0
Trump said health officials are watching the situation and have it under control.
“They know that virus very well, it\u2019s been around a long time. Not easily transferrable, unlike COVID,” Trump said on the White House lawn. “But we\u2019ll see. We\u2019re studying it very closely. We have very good people studying it very closely.\u201d
The U.S. is arranging a repatriation flight for the Americans on board the cruise ship at the center of a hantavirus outbreak, the State Department announced.
As of Friday, the World Health Organization said there are still eight cases: five people\u00a0confirmed to have hantavirus<\/a>\u00a0and three others were suspected of contracting it.
However, British authorities on the same day said there was a suspected new case of hantavirus<\/a> of a British national on a remote island where the MV Hondius made a stop<\/a> in April.
The UK Health Security Agency said<\/a> in a Friday update that the person with the suspected case was on Tristan da Cunha, often considered “the most remote inhabited island in the world<\/a>” in the South Atlantic Ocean halfway between the tips of South America and Africa. No further details about the case were made public.
The WHO has repeatedly said the risk to the general public is considered low.
Nathan Diller
Guests and crew members currently aboard MV Hondius hail from two dozen countries around the world, from Europe to North America and beyond.
Below is a detailed breakdown<\/a> from the ship’s operator, Oceanwide Expeditions. The guest numbers include four medical staff on the vessel, the company said.
Eve Chen
The MV Hondius began its Atlantic Odyssey voyage in Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1. It was supposed to end in Praia, Cape Verde, on May 4, according to operator Oceanwide Expeditions.
The ship is now heading to the port of Granadilla, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands of Spain, where passengers and crew are expected to be screened before being repatriated.
Oceanwide shared the following updated timeline<\/a>, as of May 8.
Sara Moniuszko
World Health Organization officials have assured that the\u00a0hantavirus outbreak<\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0not the start of a pandemic<\/a>. But as more headlines emerge about the\u00a0potentially deadly infection<\/a>, many are reminded of the COVID pandemic \u2212 and worried about the United State’s preparedness.
Preparedness concerns<\/a> have been fueled by the Trump administration’s history of actions that medical experts say weaken public health, from\u00a0spreading health misinformation<\/a>\u00a0to Health and Human Services Secretary\u00a0Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/a>\u00a0ending long-standing\u00a0childhood vaccine recommendations<\/a>. Public trust in health institutions also eroded in the response to the COVID pandemic \u2014 spanning both Trump’s and former President\u00a0Joe Biden<\/a>‘s administrations \u2014 which included communication missteps that\u00a0former officials have publicly reflected on<\/a>.
In a hantavirus-focused\u00a0press briefing<\/a>\u00a0on May 7, the Infectious Diseases Society of America’s CEO, Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, shared concerns that \u201cwe are not prepared” for public health crises.
USA TODAY has reached out to the Department of Health and Human Services for comment.
Melina Khan
Authorities with the World Health Organization and Oceanwide Expeditions have shared the following details on the eight people with either confirmed or suspected hantavirus.
Natalie Neysa Alund and Melina Khan
The United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is planning to send staffers to the Canary Islands to meet the MV Hondius when it arrives, according to reports from CNN<\/a>, CBS<\/a> and ABC.
The staffers will then escort Americans to the National Quarantine Unit in Nebraska, ABC News<\/a> and CNN<\/a>reported.
The unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center<\/a> in Omaha is the nation’s only federally funded facility and was designed to handle people exposed to \u201chighly hazardous communicable diseases,\u201d according to information from UNMC.
USA TODAY has reached out to the CDC for comment.
Melina Khan
Two New Jersey residents were potentially exposed to a person with hantavirus who traveled on the MV Hondius, the state’s department of health announced<\/a> on Friday.
The two people did not travel on the ship, but traveled on the same flight as the infected individual, the agency said.
Neither person currently has symptoms of infection, and officials are monitoring them as a precaution.
Eve Chen
Prior to concerns about a possible hantavirus outbreak<\/a> on the ship, travelers from a dozen countries disembarked the MV Hondius in the British territory of St. Helena on April 24.
Ship operator Oceanwide Expeditions<\/a> said 30 people disembarked, including a passenger who died on board and is believed to be among the first hantavirus cases. His wife also got off the ship and flew to South Africa. She later died and was confirmed to have hantavirus.
On May 7, World Health Organization<\/a> Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency has informed authorities in the following countries:
The WHO is also working with authorities in South Africa \u2013 where an adult male is in intensive care after being medically evacuated from the ship and later confirmed to have hantavirus \u2013 and Spain, as the ship heads to the Canary Islands.
Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, director of the WHO\u2019s Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Management, said they’ve received reports of potential suspect cases in various countries. “Some of them have had reported links to the ship or passengers on the ship,” she said. “All of those will be followed up with the relevant authorities in each country.”
Eve Chen
World Health Organization Technical Officer Anai\u0308s Legand said passengers and crew on board the MV Hondius are being assessed for hantavirus symptoms and possible exposure to suspected or confirmed cases. All of that information will be shared with the team handling the ship’s arrival in the Canary Islands.
“For us,\u00a0it’s\u00a0very important\u00a0that all passengers and crew members \u2013 we should not forget about crew members \u2013 are assessed when the ship has arrived by a trained medical team,” Legand said in a hantavirus update<\/a> streamed across the agency’s social media on Friday.
Depending on individual risk levels, Legand said the WHO may recommend people from ship and arrival team members wear personal protective equipment like masks or gloves, but WHO Health Emergencies Communication lead Nyka Alexander said it’s up to Spanish authorities to decide what to do with WHO’s guidance.
Legand said individuals determined to be at risk for hantavirus will be asked to monitor for symptoms and told who to contact if any develop. “They will be asked to\u00a0take their temperature, as\u00a0possible, with a thermometer every single day for\u00a042 days … They will be asked to be checked every single day for all the symptoms<\/a> that could be suggestive of early disease.”
However it will be up to health authorities in their respective countries to decide how to monitor them after they’re repatriated.
Natalie Neysa Alund
Dr. Ce\u0301line Gounder, an American physician who specializes in infectious diseases and global health, on Friday called on public health officials and the Trump Administration to be more transparent about the ongoing hantavirus outbreak.
Gounder told reporters the only public officials she had seen comment about it from the fedearl government was the president, who said “he hoped” everyone was going to be OK.
“And you don’t manage an infectious disease outbreak, even one that we do not think is going to become a pandemic, you don’t manage that with hope alone,” Gounder said. “We have not been told what the plans are\u2026 what kind of surveillance they are doing day to day… It\u2019s abnormal to see this much silence from the U.S. government.\u201d
\u201cThere are activities that are happening behind the scenes\u2026 but one of the things I think we learned from the COVID pandemic is that communication is one of the most important responses for this, so people know how to protect themselves and don\u2019t have to worry.”
\u201cThe silence is unacceptable in the moment,” Gounder emphasized. “It breeds conspiracy theories and I think there should be day to day updates from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control).\u201d
Natalie Neysa Alund
On Friday, Dr. Ce\u0301line Gounder<\/a>, an American physician who specializes in infectious diseases and global health, said the Andes virus, the type of hantavirus affecting people now, is often transmitted between people who have sex, including the exchange of saliva and other intimate contact.\u00a0
“So think of it as those big juicy droplets that you might sneeze out and you really need to be within a close perimeter of a person to be infected that way,” Gounder told reporters during a late morning interview. “It has required much more significant, more intimate contact. That’s not to say this is an STD, but rather that it has been transmitted through sexual partners, people who sleep in the same bed together, that level of close contact over a prolonged period of time.”
Francesca Chambers
The State Department said Friday that it has been in close contact with the staff of the Dutch cruise liner, Americans on board, and U.S. and international health authorities.
The department said it is working with the CDC, HHS and the Spanish government to arrange a repatriation flight for American passengers on the cruise ship. The State Department said consular assistance would also be available to Americans on board as soon as the ship arrives in Tenerife, Spain.
Eve Chen
As of Friday, the World Health Organization said there are still eight hantavirus-related cases tied to the MV Hondius: five confirmed cases and three suspected.
Echoing her colleagues’ previous statements, WHO Emergencies Communications Lead Nyka Alexander said in a live streamed update on hantavirus<\/a> on Friday, “The risk to the public remains low.”
That’s the case for the general public, but she noted the risk for people on board the cruise ship is moderate.
Alexander confirmed no one currently on the ship is showing hantavirus symptoms.
She added that a WHO colleague onboard said people are happy the ship is finally moving and feel like they can see a light at the end of the tunnel.
The ship had previously been holding off the coast of Cape Verde formedical evacuations<\/a> completed on Wednesday.
Melina Khan
While hantavirus is primarily a rodent-borne virus, the strain at the center of the MV Hondius outbreak is believed to be spreading person to person, according to the WHO.
The WHO said on May 6 that the strain has been confirmed through laboratory testing as Andes virus, which is found in South America and believed to spread human-to-human.
“We do believe that there may be some human-to-human transmission that’s happening among the really close contacts \u2013 the husband and wife, people who’ve shared cabins, etcetera,” WHO official Maria Van Kerkhove said during a May 5\u00a0news conference<\/a>.
Natalie Neysa Alund
World Health Organization leaders on Friday said a KLM<\/a> flight attendant who came in close contact with a woman who died from a hantavirus infection in\u00a0Johannesburg<\/a> had tested negative<\/a> for the virus.
“We have received notification through our IHR focal point that the Dutch flight attendant tested negative,” spokesperson Amna Smailbegovic\u0301, a WHO spokesperson, told USA TODAY.
The commercial flight attendant had been \u200badmitted \u200bto \u2060a hospital in \u200bAmsterdam one day earlier \u2060with signs of \u2060a \u200bpossible infection, where she was tested, Dutch Health Ministry spokesperson Mischa Stubenitsky<\/a> said.
Local media reported the flight attendant woman works for\u00a0KLM<\/a>, an airline that\u00a0confirmed<\/a>\u00a0a cruise passenger who died from hantavirus had traveled on board one of its flights.
Eve Chen
The MV Hondius is on its way to the Canary Islands off the coast of Spain.
As of Thursday, both the World Health Organization and the ship’s operator, Oceanwide Expeditions<\/a>, said no one on board was showing any hantavirus symptoms<\/a>.
Oceanwide estimates the MV Hondius will arrive at the port of Grandilla in Tenerife early Sunday, but noted that’s subject to change.
“Oceanwide Expeditions remains in close and continual discussion with relevant authorities regarding our exact point of arrival, quarantine and screening procedures for all guests, and a precise timeline,” the expedition cruise company said in a news release.
The government of Tenerife<\/a>, which previously expressed opposition<\/a> to the ship’s arrival, is planning to activate its Island Emergency Plan starting Saturday evening. The Cabildo de Tenerife said on X that it’s continuously monitoring operations and coordinating with health and state authorities.
Also on X, Spain’s Health Ministry<\/a> said it was working with multiple countries to plan the evacuation and repatriation of everyone on board “with all public health guarantees.”
Natalie Neysa Alund
Spanish authorities on Friday confirmed a woman in the European country’s southeastern province of Alicante has symptoms consistent with a\u00a0hantavirus\u00a0infection.
The suspected case involves a woman who was a passenger on the same flight as a patient who died in Johannesburg after travelling on the MV Hondius cruise ship and contracting the virus, Spain’s Secretary of State for Health, Javier Padilla, said during a news conference.
Melina Khan
No cases tied to the\u00a0outbreak<\/a>\u00a0have been reported in the United States, and the CDC said the overall\u00a0risk<\/a>\u00a0to Americans is low.
Officials in six states have confirmed they are monitoring residents who recently traveled on board the MV Hondius for hantavirus symptoms:
Sara M Moniuszko and Eve Chen
There is no specific treatment that cures hantavirus diseases, according to the World Health Organization, but early supportive medical care is “key to improve survival.”
This care includes clinical monitoring and managing any respiratory, cardiac or other complications, the organization says.
“We’ve\u00a0seen some online\u00a0discussion\u00a0as well\u00a0indicating\u00a0that\u00a0perhaps ivermectin<\/a>\u00a0is useful in this case, but we have not seen any research that shows that ivermectin is an effective treatment for hantavirus,” Nyka Alexander, WHO Emergencies Communications Lead said in a hantavirus update<\/a> streamed live across the agency’s social media channels on Friday.
USA TODAY Staff
Officials believe a husband and wife, Dutch nationals, were infected while they were off the cruise ship, engaging in wildlife expeditions. Others with suspected infections may have come in contact with the virus on islands as well, WHO<\/a> official Maria Van Kerkhove said during a briefing.
“We do believe that there may be some human-to-human transmission that’s happening among the really close contacts \u2013 the husband and wife, people who’ve shared cabins, etcetera,” Van Kerkhove said.
On May 6, the WHO said the strain of hantavirus has been confirmed through laboratory testing as Andes virus, a strain found in South America that is believed to spread person-to-person.
The WHO has also said the current risk to the rest of the world is low, but it is continuing to monitor the situation and provide updates.
Sara M Moniuszko
Hantaviruses are a group of viruses that naturally infect rodents, sometimes long\u2011term without apparent illness, and are occasionally transmitted to humans, according to the World Health Organization<\/a>.
“Although many hantavirus species have been identified worldwide, only a limited number are known to cause human disease,” the WHO adds.
Hantavirus is primarily spread by rodents through exposure to their urine, droppings or saliva and less commonly through a scratch or bite, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“While rare, hantavirus may spread between people<\/a> and can lead to severe respiratory illness and requires careful patient monitoring, support and response,” the WHO notes.
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy
As U.S. residents are being\u00a0monitored\u00a0for hantavirus<\/a>\u00a0after traveling on the MV Hondius, a cruise ship now tied to\u00a0several cases of the virus<\/a>, the White House is working with the CDC and State Department to monitor the situation.
“While possible risks to the American public remain low, the CDC has convened leading experts on Andes virus to assist in this effort to ensure Americans are protected. The entire Administration remains vigilant,” White House Spokesman Kush Desai\u00a0told USA TODAY.<\/p>\n

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