loading . . . Is cruise ship hantavirus outbreak beginning of another pandemic? _This story has been updated._
Social media was roiling Friday with questions about the potential for the Andes hantavirus, which killed several passengers on a cruise ship and sickened others, to become the latest pandemic.
The short answer is “not likely,” though a few variables have to be considered. It is, however, possible the virus could spark some limited but potentially deadly spread. A pandemic requires broad, rapid spread.
Utah State Epidemiologist Leisha Nolen told Deseret News she’s not worried for the safety of the general public.
“While I am concerned for the individuals exposed to this virus on the cruise ship, I do not have concern of this infection spreading widely,” Nolen said by email. “Unlike COVID, hantavirus is a disease that has been around and studied for years. This means we know how it transmits and how to stop it from spreading to additional people.”
She noted that “states have been informed of anyone from their state who has been on the affected cruise ship and are taking actions to make sure others are not put at risk, as those individuals travel home.”
In an afternoon update, Nolen added that Utah’s Department of Health and Human Services “is working with CDC to identify any exposed Utahns. All exposed individuals will be traveling home in the next few days and we will be working closely to assure precautions are taken to avoid putting any additional people at risk.”
While their worry about a pandemic is limited, public health officials are taking precautions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention activated its round-the-clock emergency center Thursday night. But it gave hantavirus its lowest of three classification levels.
As The Hill reported, some staff from the Emergency Operations Center could be tasked with assisting disease experts that are needed to respond to an outbreak. But an outbreak is much different from a pandemic. To earn pandemic classification, an infectious disease has to spawn a large number of cases and spread across a very big region so that many people are impacted.
Health officials at this point doubt even an epidemic, which is smaller, is likely. But that hasn’t stopped people from worrying, including young adults who had their lives interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
> 2023: Corona ended
> 2026: Hantavirus
>
> — soothsayer (@iamasoothsayer) June 11, 2022
Hantavirus is not one single strain. It includes at least 38 identified strains, all primarily carried by rodents. Hantavirus normally requires direct contact with the feces, urine or saliva of infected rodents. The virus in that case can be inhaled.
Cruise passengers may soon head home. Could hantavirus spread?
The Andes virus is the only one identified that can spread from one person to another, but both the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that it requires close and somewhat prolonged contact. Unless it mutates in a way that boosts its spread, it’s believed that the virus cannot be contracted from someone who doesn’t have symptoms.
National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya, also now the acting CDC director, posted on X that “CDC has the world’s leading experts on hantavirus and is lending its technical expertise when coordinating with interagency partners, state health offices and international authorities on response and repatriation planning.”
### Measuring one’s risk
The New York Times on Thursday posted a chart showing how concerned people should be at this point. Those recently on the Hondius, the luxury ship where the outbreak occurred, should be concerned. Hantavirus symptoms sometimes don’t show up for six weeks.
And that worry should extend to passengers who left the ship early, before anyone knew the illness that claimed the first passenger was the one strain of hantavirus that can spread person to person in circumstances of close contact.
Those folks have been told to reach out to their local health departments for some advice and monitoring.
The Times reported “some risk” for those who were on a flight with passengers who were ill after leaving the Hondius. That number of people is small and they’re being contacted by health officials, the Times reported.
Those who weren’t on the ship or on a flight with someone who was sick and had been on the Hondius need not worry.
Still, there are reasons the general public should worry about hantavirus in general. Anyone who is around wild rodent droppings, saliva or urine should take precautions. As Deseret News has reported numerous times, gloves and a mask should be used while disinfecting areas with droppings by spraying with a bleach solution. One should only sweep up the mess after it’s drenched, so it doesn’t get inhaled. Never sweep dry droppings
And even then, most rodent droppings don’t contain hantavirus. The problem is, you don’t know, so take precautions.
### Wild cards that could boost spread
In an opinion piece for the Times, epidemiologist Caitlin Rivers outlined a few circumstances that could fan the need to worry and take more drastic action. She notes that hantavirus is found worldwide, but there are not many outbreaks.
What passengers are saying about hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship
She said she’d worry if the strain was found in someone with no connection to the Hondius, or if it spread among healthcare workers. “Previous outbreaks of viruses with characteristics similar to the Andes virus have taken root in hospitals. A 2015 outbreak of MERS in South Korea comes to mind, in which a sick person visited at least two hospitals and a clinic, inadvertently touching off chains of transmission that led to 186 confirmed cases and 38 deaths. Cases in healthcare settings signal an escalating situation.”
She wrote that it’s conceivable the Andes version of hantavirus could cause bigger problems, as well, if the virus evolves to spread more easily between humans or if the public health response lags if new cases related directly or indirectly to the Hondius appear.
### Where are the other passengers?
The Associated Press on Friday published an update on the whereabouts of the passengers who are not still on the cruise ship, which is relevant to the potential for hantavirus spread. Of the 29 who disembarked at St. Helena on April 24, along with the body of the first passenger who died, most went on to other countries. The wife of the man who died flew to Johannesburg and then boarded a plane to Amsterdam, but was taken off the plane because she was so ill. She later died.
So South African and Dutch officials are trying to reach those who had contact with her as she was traveling. Per the article, “A flight attendant who had contact with the woman has tested negative for hantavirus after reporting symptoms.”
The United Kingdom found all of its citizens who left the boat and is monitoring their status, per AP. Those officials didn’t say how many they had been in contact with since they left the ship.
U.S. public health officials are also monitoring their local passengers who left the cruise ship early, including in Arizona, California, Georgia, Texas and Virginia.
### Worries on social media
Here are some of the posts from social media centered on the possibility of hantavirus spread.
> The number of confirmed hantavirus cases associated to the MV Hondius cruise ship has risen to 12 as of this morning. It is extremely disheartening that everyone is saying not to worry when we all have severe ptsd from covid. I cannot stand the gaslighting.
>
> — Amelia 🇺🇸 (@amelia_tweetz) May 8, 2026
> I’m worried about the Hantavirus. Health officials also claimed COVID was incapable of spreading human-to-human — yet it did.
>
> — The Enforcer (@ItsTheEnforcer) May 7, 2026
> When I heard about the hantavirus I immediately got in my car and drove to the store as fast as I could to buy toilet paper in case there’s a repeat of 6 years ago pic.twitter.com/mi2fWN4Jmv
>
> — greg (@greg16676935420) May 6, 2026
> what are the hantavirus symptoms i need to cancel plans
>
> — Hadas Weiss (@weiss_hadas) May 7, 2026
> Hantavirus preparedness checklist:
> ✔️ Toilet paper
> ✔️ Hand sanitizer
> ✔️ Toilet paper
> ✔️ Face masks
> ✔️ Sourdough starter
> ✔️ Ivermectin
> ✔️ PPP Loan
>
> — Alex Cohen (@anothercohen) May 7, 2026
> Am I being paranoid or is this whole Hantavirus thing starting to feel like December 2019?
>
> — Sierra (@Sierra_rak) May 7, 2026
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