90-Second Read: Hantavirus is in the news

Hantavirus news is usually confined to high-risk areas such as Arizona and New Mexico and unusual outbreaks like that in Yosemite National Park in 2012. The cruise ship MV Hondius has been identified as the source of the recent Hantavirus outbreak. Though the risk of a broad spread in the U.S. is "considered extremely unlikely at this time," the CDC issued a Health Alert Network (HAN) advisory on Hantavirus urging clinicians across the country to be aware of possible imported cases.

The World Health Organization (WHO) received a notification on May 2 of a cluster of severe respiratory illness among passengers and crew with two deaths and one critically ill passenger reported. Seventeen passengers from the United States were flown to the National Quarantine Unit in Nebraska for comprehensive health evaluations by infectious disease specialists and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The World Health Organization (WHO) and CDC are closely monitoring this dis- ease and both agencies have stated that this is a low public health risk, nothing comparable to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Eight ship passengers contracted Hantavirus while cruising across the Atlan- tic Ocean and three died from the disease. This strain can cause Hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome leading to death in 40% of people infected. The Andes Hantavirus strain has been identified as the culprit, the only strain that can be transmitted person to person.