90-Second Read: Experts wonder ‘Where is the CDC?’ as a Hantavirus outbreak unfolds on a cruise ship

Despite a cruise ship outbreak of a rare rodent-borne illness, global health officials say the risk to the general public remains low because Hantavirus germs do not easily spread between people. To experts, the situation aboard a cruise ship has not spiraled because, unlike COVID-19 or measles or the flu, Hantavirus does not spread easily. AP correspondent Julie Walker reports experts wonder 'Where is the CDC?' as a Hantavirus outbreak unfolds on a cruise ship. A Spanish Civil Guard officer inspects the area where passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship are expected to arrive at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Saturday, May 9, 2026.

Hantavirus was first identified as a cause of sickness of one of the cases on May 2. Crew members of the Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, wait their turns for a first interview with epidemiologists, during the voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. In interviews this week, some experts made a comparison with a 2020 incident involving the Diamond Princess, a cruise ship docked in Japan that became the setting of one of the first large COVID-19 outbreaks outside of China. Preparations were underway at Granadilla port, where the vessel is expected to arrive on Sunday.

Health officials confirmed the deployment of a team to Spain's Canary Islands, where the ship was expected to arrive early Sunday local time, to meet the Americans onboard. The CDC's diminished role in this outbreak is an indicator the agency is no longer the force in international health or the protector of domestic health that it once was, some experts said. It made the risk assessment that has told people the outbreak is not a pandemic threat. As this was playing out, Kennedy said he was working to "restore the CDC's focus on infectious disease, invest in innovation, and rebuild trust through integrity and transparency." The CDC has not been completely silent on Hantavirus.

The World Health Organization swung into action and by Monday was calling it an outbreak. The CDC acted as a mainstay of any international investigation, providing staff and expertise to help unravel any outbreak mystery, develop ways to control it and communicate to the public what they should know and how they should worry. But federal health officials have mostly been tight-lipped, declining interview requests.