Hantavirus, in an unusual place.
Hantavirus normally spreads from rodents to people — never between humans. On 1 April 2026, an expedition cruise (MV Hondius) left Argentina with 147 people aboard. Three have since died and four are sick. Lab tests confirmed the rare Andes strain, the only hantavirus known to occasionally pass between people in close contact. WHO assesses global public-health risk as LOW.
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Take the 60-second risk check →These figures cover the currently unfolding Andes cruise-ship cluster (WHO DON599) plus the most recent CDC NNDSS Weekly publication for the United States. They are not a global running total — endemic surveillance counts (China, Russia, Finland, Germany, Korea, the Americas) are reported separately below as annual baselines, with each authority cited.
Hantaviruses are endemic in many countries. The figures below are the most recent published surveillance baselines from each national/regional authority — they are not current weekly counts. Click any source to verify upstream.
| Country / region | Strain | Annual cases (baseline) | Annual deaths | Provenance | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| China Shaanxi / Heilongjiang / Yunnan | Hantaan / Seoul | 11,000 | 110 | Annual pattern | China CDC ↗ |
| Russian Federation Russia · Volga / Bashkortostan | Puumala / Dobrava | 6,000 | 24 | Annual pattern | Rospotrebnadzor (Russian Federation) ↗ |
| Finland boreal forest belt | Puumala | 1,500 | 1 | Annual pattern | Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) ↗ |
| Germany Bavaria / Baden-Württemberg | Puumala | 1,300 | 5 | Annual pattern | Robert Koch Institute (RKI) ↗ |
| South Korea Gyeonggi / Gangwon | Hantaan | 400 | 12 | Annual pattern | Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) ↗ |
| Brazil agricultural belt | Juquitiba / Araraquara | 110 | 45 | Annual pattern | PAHO Epidemiological Alert (Dec 2025) ↗ |
| Argentina Patagonia (Andes-virus zone) | Andes | 70 | 22 | Annual pattern | PAHO Epidemiological Alert (Dec 2025) ↗ |
| Chile Aysén / Los Lagos | Andes | 65 | 22 | Annual pattern | PAHO Epidemiological Alert (Dec 2025) ↗ |
What is hantavirus?
Hantavirus is a group of RNA viruses carried by rodents that can cause two human syndromes: hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in the Americas and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in Eurasia. Most infections occur via inhalation of aerosolized rodent excreta.
Is hantavirus contagious between people?
Most hantavirus strains are not transmitted person-to-person. The Andes virus, found in South America, is the only strain with documented human-to-human transmission, and only during close prolonged contact.
What are the early symptoms of hantavirus?
Early symptoms appear 1–8 weeks after exposure and include fever, muscle aches, fatigue, headache, nausea, and abdominal pain. Respiratory symptoms (cough, shortness of breath) develop later in HPS; kidney symptoms develop later in HFRS.
How fatal is hantavirus?
Case fatality varies by strain: up to 35–40% for Andes and Sin Nombre virus (HPS), about 5–12% for Hantaan and Dobrava (severe HFRS), and below 1% for Puumala (mild HFRS).
Is there a vaccine for hantavirus?
There is no vaccine licensed in the United States, Europe, or most of the Americas. China and South Korea use bivalent inactivated vaccines against Hantaan and Seoul viruses with high coverage in endemic provinces.
What is the MV Hondius outbreak?
The MV Hondius is an expedition cruise that departed Ushuaia, Argentina on 1 April 2026 with 147 people aboard. By early May 2026 the ship reported 7 cases and 3 deaths from confirmed Andes hantavirus, with 5 of 7 samples PCR-positive at Geneva University.