What is Hantavirus and why It is 'Not Like COVID': All you wanted to know
Three cruise ship passengers with suspected hantavirus infections were flown to the Netherlands on Wednesday, May 6, for treatment.
Three people have died and one body is still on the Dutch ship at the center of the outbreak, the MV Hondius, which is now heading for Spain’s Canary Islands. The patients were evacuated via the Cape Verde islands off West Africa.
About 150 passengers are isolating in their cabins, and officials say those on board show no symptoms.
The World Health Organization says the outbreak’s global risk is low, with the organization’s top epidemic expert telling The Associated Press, “This is not the next COVID.” There have been eight cases, five of them confirmed by laboratory testing, the WHO says.
Hantavirus is a rare, rodent-borne illness that usually spreads when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings. The Argentine government’s leading hypothesis is that a Dutch couple contracted the virus during a bird-watching tour at a garbage dump before boarding the cruise, according to two officials.
Here’s the latest:
The illness starts with flu-like symptoms
An infection can rapidly progress and become life-threatening. Experts say it can start with symptoms including fever, chills, muscle aches and maybe a headache — much like the flu.
Symptoms of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome usually show between one to six weeks, or more, after contact with an infected rodent. As the infection progresses, patients might experience tightness in the chest as the lungs fill with fluid.
The other syndrome caused by hantavirus — known as hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, which can cause bleeding, high fever, and kidney failure — usually develops within a week or two after exposure.
Death rates vary by which hantavirus causes the illness. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is fatal in about 35% of people infected, while the death rate for hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome varies from 1% to 15% of patients, according to the CDC.
A lot of unknowns about the illness and treatment
There is no specific treatment or cure, but early medical attention can increase the chance of survival.
Despite years of research, many questions have yet to be answered, including why it can be mild for some people and severe for others and how antibodies are developed. Some researchers have been following patients over long periods of time in hopes of finding a treatment.
“In the Americas, hantavirus infection is very serious, but it’s also quite rare,” Bradfute said. “And so for a time that probably led to less research into it because of funding priorities, but I know there’s been a lot of interest in funding hantavirus work of late.”
What researchers do know is that rodent exposure is key.
The best way to avoid the germ is to minimize contact with rodents and their droppings. Use protective gloves and a bleach solution for cleaning up rodent droppings. Public health experts caution against sweeping or vacuuming, which can cause virus particles to get into the air.
Hantavirus infections have been relatively uncommon globally
The WHO reported that in 2025, eight countries within the Americas had documented 229 cases and 59 deaths. In Argentina, the health ministry said hantavirus led to 28 deaths nationwide last year.
In the U.S., federal health officials began tracking the virus after a 1993 outbreak in the Four Corners region — the area where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet. It was an astute physician with the Indian Health Service who first noticed a pattern of deaths among young patients.
Most U.S. cases are in Western states. New Mexico and Arizona are hot spots, likely because the odds are greater for mouse-human encounters in rural areas.
WHO says confirmed cases rise to 5, including 2 passengers evacuated Wednesday
The World Health Organization had previously confirmed three cases and five suspected ones.
Ann Lindstrand, the WHO representative in Cape Verde, said in a phone interview that a sample from the third patient evacuated from the ship is still being checked.
“So far of all the cases related to this boat, the eight cases, we now have five confirmed with laboratory testing for Andes virus,” she said. “So it’s quite a lot.”
‘This is not the next Covid’
The World Health Organization’s top epidemic expert told the AP that the risk to the public is low, and the Andes type of the hantavirus is known — even if the WHO has never seen a hantavirus outbreak on a ship.
“This is not the next Covid, but it is a serious infectious disease,” Maria Van Kerkhove said. “Most people will never be exposed to this.”
For those on the ship, access to clinical care is important, she said, because infected people can develop severe acute respiratory distress and need oxygen or mechanical ventilation. The hantavirus incubation period can be one to six weeks, or more, she added.