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.
These figures cover the currently unfolding Andes cruise-ship cluster (WHO DON599) plus the most recent CDC NNDSS Weekly publication for the United States. Endemic surveillance counts are reported separately in TERMINAL #003 as annual baselines.
Hantavirus normally spreads from rodents to people — never between humans. The Andes strain is the documented exception.
Click any country pin.
Live outbreak pins, country-level activity halos, cruise-route arcs, and recent-news signals from 10 RSS / API feeds. Click a pin to open the country detail — local mentions, import mentions, deaths referenced, mention period, and every cited source. Officer Hanta narrates context as you explore.
- The Potential Risk Factors of Hantavirus Transmission to Humans from Infected Rodents in MalaysiaPertanika Journal of Veterinary Medicine and Science
- NUMERICAL AND BIFURCATION ANALYSIS WITH SENSITIVITY ASSESSMENT OF A DETERMINISTIC LEPTOSPIROSIS HANTAVIRUS CO-INFECTION MODELJournal of Applied Analysis & Computation
- Diagnostic accuracy of serological, molecular and rapid tests for human hantavirus disease: a systematic review and meta-analysisDiagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease
- Hantavirus: A focused review for the emergency medicine clinicianThe American Journal of Emergency Medicine
- Emerging hantavirus risks in mass gatherings: epidemiology, diagnostic challenges, and outbreak preparednessDiagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease
- Towards broadly protective hantavirus vaccine: Immunological barriers, structural vaccinology and one health perspectivesClinical Immunology Communications
- Rising spillover risk: Lessons from the Andes hantavirus outbreakOne Health
- Mount Sinai Study Identifies Single Amino Acid Change That Alters Andes Virus Protein Behavior in Human Cells | NewswiseNewswise
- Mount Sinai Study Identifies Single Amino Acid Change That Alters Andes Virus Protein Behavior in Human CellsMount Sinai
- Hantavirus Disease in a Changing World: Reservoir Ecology, Endothelial Dysfunction, Clinical Management, and the 2026 M/V Hondius Andes Virus OutbreakZoonotic Diseases
- Progress in antiviral and vaccine strategies against hantavirus: Current advances and future perspectivesNarra Review
- Hantavirus Outbreak Caused by Andes Virus Linked to International Cruise Ship Travel — United States, 2026MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
- Dinámica de la Información Digital en español ante un riesgo emergente de salud pública: análisis exploratorio del caso hantavirusCiencia Latina Revista Científica Multidisciplinar
- Abstract 14113: The Window Before Collapse: Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Hantavirus Cardiopulmonary Syndrome - <i>A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis</i>Circulation
- Hantavirus for the dermatologistJournal of the American Academy of Dermatology
- Hygiene and virucidal interventions in Ebola virus (Bundibugyo virus) and hantavirus (Andes virus) infection control: Translating laboratory evidence into practiceAmerican Journal of Infection Control
- HantavirusMedicina Clínica
- Hantavirus and the skin: A visible window into systemic vascular failureJournal of Investigative Dermatology
- Advanced Hantavirus Risk Assessment via an Integrated Fractional Neutrosophic Decision-Making FrameworkApplied Mathematics & Information Sciences
- Hantavirus infection and the boundaries of autoimmunity: Vascular immunopathology, autoimmune-like mimicry, and post-infectious phenomenaAutoimmunity Reviews
- Wavefront propagation in a hyperbolic model of hantavirus infectionMathematics and Computers in Simulation
- Les hantavirus, des agents responsables d’épidémies périodiquesActualités Pharmaceutiques
- Hantavirus outbreak linked to cruise ship travel, Multi-locationsWHO DON
- Deadly Hantavirus Cruise Ship Outbreak Is Over 3 Months Later, W.H.O. SaysThe New York Times
- Twenty-one countries launch coordinated Andes virus research initiative following hantavirus outbreakWorld Health Organization (WHO)
- How did the cruise ship hantavirus outbreak start? Scientists are investigating new scenariosScience | AAAS
- Hantavirus outbreak linked to cruise ship travel, Multi-locationsWHO DON
- What Is Hantavirus & Should I Worry About It?Cleveland Clinic
- Hantavirus Cruise Ship Will Welcome Guests for New Voyage 34 Days After Outbreak Passengers DisembarkedPeople.com
- Hantavirus outbreak linked to cruise ship grows to 13 casesCIDRAP
- Andes virus on the MV Hondius cruise ship: what we know about this rare and potentially fatal hantavirusInstitut Pasteur
- Andes Hantavirus Outbreak on a Cruise Ship, 2026NEJM
- Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship docks in the Netherlands after deadly outbreak - WBAL-TVGoogle News
- MV Hondius docks in Rotterdam after hantavirus ordealDW.com
- Take precautions with hantavirus. Coloradans at higher risk.UCHealth
- 2026 Hantavirus Outbreak: Testing for Potential InfectionCenters for Disease Control and Prevention | CDC (.gov)
- MV Hondius cruise ship to arrive in the Netherlands on MondayNBC News
- Hantavirus: What You Need to Know About the VirusUnric
- The hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius set off alarms for a world still traumatized by Covid. For those on board, the danger was much closer. https://nyti.ms/494x1VhFacebook
- Canadian MV Hondius cruise passenger tests positive for hantavirusNBC News
- HantavirusWorld Health Organization (WHO)
- Osterholm on hantavirus: We’re missing ‘main point of this outbreak’CIDRAP
- Hantavirus Outbreak 2026Johns Hopkins Medicine
- Hantavirus: Symptoms, Risks and How to Stay Safe - NewYork-PresbyterianGoogle News
- Hantavirus: How are countries responding to the cruise virus?BBC
- WHO confirms 11 hantavirus cases linked to MV Hondius cruise shipVOV World
- Can this cruise ship ever be safe again? Inside the hantavirus cleanupNewsNation
- A Scientist’s Close Call with Hantavirus Aboard the M.V. Hondius CruiseThe New Yorker
- Dr. Bogoch on how Canada is doing its part to contain the spread of hantavirusCP24
- Updates on Andes virus (hantavirus) outbreak on the cruise ship MV HondiusGovernment.nl
What mainstream news is missing.
Every 30 minutes Officer Hanta sweeps clinical-trial registries, preprint servers, GenBank, ProMED, and credentialled virologists on X for verifiable, non-obvious hantavirus signals and posts them to its public terminal. You can read; you can't prompt.
Annual surveillance baseline · by country
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) ↗ |
| Sweden Norrland | Puumala | 350 | 1 | Annual pattern | Folkhälsomyndigheten ↗ |
| Belgium Wallonia / forest belt | Puumala | 200 | 0 | Annual pattern | Sciensano (Belgian Institute for Health) ↗ |
| Brazil agricultural belt | Juquitiba / Araraquara | 110 | 45 | Annual pattern | PAHO Epidemiological Alert (Dec 2025) ↗ |
| Slovenia Karst / Sava valley | Dobrava / Puumala | 100 | 5 | Annual pattern | Slovenian National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) ↗ |
| France Ardennes / Franche-Comté | Puumala | 90 | 0 | Annual pattern | Santé publique France ↗ |
| 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) ↗ |
| Panama Los Santos peninsula | Choclo | 40 | 4 | Annual pattern | PAHO Epidemiological Alert (Dec 2025) ↗ |
| Paraguay Chaco | Laguna Negra | 25 | 8 | Annual pattern | PAHO Epidemiological Alert (Dec 2025) ↗ |
| Uruguay agricultural belt | Andes / Lechiguanas | 12 | 4 | Annual pattern | PAHO Epidemiological Alert (Dec 2025) ↗ |
| Canada western prairies | Sin Nombre | 4 | 1 | Annual pattern | Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) ↗ |
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Three quick questions. We weight your answers across geography, exposure, and case contact, then point you at the right next step. Not a diagnosis.
Common questions
The questions readers ask most. For deeper coverage, jump to the pillar, the symptoms page, or the triage decision tree.
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.