90-Second Read: Fourth King County resident potentially exposed to Hantavirus

A fourth King County resident is under monitoring for the Andes type of Hantavirus linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship. The King County resident is considered at low risk for infection, according to Public Health, Seattle and King County. No one in King County has symptoms of Hantavirus, and there are no cases of the virus in King County, health officials reiterated. Two of them were sitting on an airplane near an ill passenger who was removed from the aircraft and later tested positive for the virus, according to a news release from Public Health, Seattle and King County Tuesday.

Public Health said it is also aware of a third King County resident who was a passenger on the MV Hondius cruise ship. The Andes virus is the only known Hantavirus that can spread from person to person, but Public Health noted that such transmission is rare. Symptoms of Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) start one to eight weeks after inhaling the virus, according to the Washington State Department of Health. American citizens (Dressed in blue) are evacuated in a small boat from the MV Hondius after docking in the Granadilla Port on May 10, 2026 in Tenerife, part of the Canary Islands, Spain.

The person is currently asymptomatic and is being monitored for symptoms. The resident is also asymptomatic and is being monitored for symptoms along with other American passengers at the national quarantine center and the University of Nebraska Medical Center. They spread primarily from contact with wild rodents, especially when people are exposed to their urine, droppings, and saliva. Two of those people were a Dutch couple, who health officals belive were the first exposed to the virus while visiting South America.

This is a very different situation from when COVID-19 first emerged, COVID was a novel virus that we knew very little about. As of Tuesday, the outbreak has reached 11 total cases, nine of which have been confirmed, according to The Associated Press. That includes direct physical contact, prolonged time spent in close or enclosed spaces, and exposure to an infected person's saliva, respiratory secretions, or other bodily fluids.