90-Second Read: Local expert says Hantavirus unlikely to reach Indiana

Experts say Hantavirus is not the new Covid-19 and is unlikely to reach Indiana. Of the over 100 people that were on the Hondius cruise ship in the South Atlantic, nine are confirmed to have contracted Andes virus, the only strain of Hantavirus known to spread human to human. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from 1993 to 2023, there were 890 cases of Hantavirus in the U.S. About 94 percent of those occurred west of the Mississippi River.

Hantavirus is a disease that primarily spreads among rodents; humans can also contract the virus through contact with infected rodents' urine, droppings or saliva. Earlier this week, 18 passengers from the ship arrived back in the United States and are being monitored at facilities in Nebraska and Georgia. And as of May 8, the World Health Organization has assessed the risk globally as low.

Dearth says that's because it can more easily spread in dry, arid conditions, such as New Mexico, where actor Gene Hackman's wife died last year from Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a more severe version of the virus that has a fatality rate of up to 50 percent. We've seen it here in Indiana, sometimes when it's a little bit drier, but also in certain situations, like someone cleaning out, you know, hay from a barn. It can spread human to human through close, prolonged contact, such as between family members, though not as easily as Covid-19 or the flu.