90-Second Read: What to know about Hantavirus, and past cases and deaths in Kansas

As public health officials in Kansas and around the world monitor Hantavirus cases and exposures following an outbreak on a cruise ship, the Sunflower State has had a few cases in recent years of the illness-causing virus carried and spread by rodents. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment announced May 12 that it was monitoring three people who were exposed to someone with confirmed Andes Hantavirus on an international flight. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports there were 890 cases of Hantavirus disease reported nationwide from 1993, when Hantavirus disease surveillance started in the United States, through 2023. There was one case of Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in 2021 and two cases in 2020.

The most recent reported death from Hantavirus in Kansas was in December 2008. The passengers have since returned to their homes in the following states: Two Georgia residents were reported to have been on the ship, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health. Formal tracking of Hantavirus did not begin in the United States until 1993, when an outbreak killed 17 in the Four Corners region, mostly via Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. The 2024 case was in the Kansas City metro and the 2025 case was in southwest Kansas.

Hantavirus is most commonly spread by exposure to rat droppings, urine or saliva. Hantavirus is primarily spread when people come in contact with urine, droppings and saliva from rats, according to the CDC. One particular species of the virus, known as the Andes virus, is the only known type of Hantavirus that has been found to spread from person to person, and its spread is usually contained to people who have close contact with someone who is infected. Hantavirus is rarely contagious and is not easily spread from person to person.

Several types of Hantaviruses can impact humans and animals differently. In the case of humans, Hantavirus infections can cause two serious syndromes: Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), which affects the lungs, and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), which affects the kidneys. There is no specific treatment or cure for Hantavirus, according to the CDC.