90-Second Read: 7 Positive Hantavirus Tests Linked To Cruise Ship—Including American (Latest Updates)

Stephen Kornfeld speaks to CNN from a biocontainment unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, where he confirms he is the American patient reported to have tested positive for the Hantavirus but says he "feels wonderful" and is not experiencing symptoms. Spanish officials confirm that after testing positive once for Hantavirus, the American now known to be Kornfield has since tested negative twice for the disease, meaning no Americans are among the nine confirmed cases of the illness. A Spanish passenger who was evacuated from the MV Hondius tests positive for Hantavirus, according the Spanish Health Ministry, and is experiencing a "low-grade fever and mild respiratory symptoms," World Health Organization Director Dr. The American who tested positive for Hantavirus says he is symptom free while a patient in Paris is critically ill.

Officials clarify an earlier statement about an American patient who tested "mildly positive" for Hantavirus, explaining the person was tested twice for the disease with a PCR molecular test and got one positive and one negative result. 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. May 4, 2026 The World Health Organization ⁠confirms a strain of Hantavirus is spreading aboard the ship, with two lab-confirmed cases and five more suspected cases. A French patient confirmed to have the Hantavirus is now critically ill with life-threatening heart and lung problems, a doctor at her Paris hospital confirms.

Twelve staff members at a Dutch hospital are quarantined after blood and urine samples collected from a Hantavirus patient were mishandled, according to Reuters, and they'll stay isolated for six weeks despite a very low risk of infection. Brian Christine, assistant secretary for health, says the risk to the public is still "very, very low." The plane carrying 18 people from the Canary Islands, 17 Americans and one British dual national, back to the United States arrives in Omaha, Nebraska. France's Health Minister Stéphanie Rist says a woman, among five French nationals evacuated from the vessel, has tested positive for the Hantavirus and all five people will be put under isolation in Paris. 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. May 6, 2026 The CDC reportedly tells employees Luis Rodríguez, the American official responsible for public health on cruise ships, is retiring. 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.