90-Second Read: What to know about Hantavirus and Arizonans from stricken cruise ship

The strain of Hantavirus that has been found in Arizona is not the same strain confirmed in the MV Hondius Dutch cruise ship passengers, said David Engelthaler, who got his start in public health as the Hantavirus epidemiologist for Arizona during the Four Corners outbreak. Worldwide interest in Hantavirus recently spiked due to the cruise ship outbreak that as of May 13 had resulted in 11 infections, including three deaths, which works out to a 27% fatality rate, according to the World Health Organization. All Hantaviruses are a group of viruses carried by rodents that can cause severe disease in humans, and people usually get infected via contact with infected rodents or their urine, droppings or saliva, public health officials said.

Hantavirus is a disease that in the Southwest is often associated with a brutal and deadly outbreak in the Four Corners area in 1993 that killed more than a dozen people. Forty-one people across the United States, including two Arizonans, are under monitoring in connection with the outbreak. One Arizona passenger is back home and under surveillance by the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, and the other is among a group of 18 Americans from the stricken ship that is in quarantine in Nebraska.

Arizona had 92 cases of Hantavirus between 1993 and 2023, according to the CDC. A forecasted severe El Niño climate pattern this year could result in a higher-than-usual number of Hantavirus cases, Engelthaler said. The outbreak was the first time Hantavirus had been found in the Western Hemisphere.