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Live Updates
ABC News

Hantavirus live updates: American who initially tested positive now tests negative

PHOTO: Port vessels accompany the MV Hondius as it departs the Granadilla Port after all passengers were evacuated on May 11, 2026 in Tenerife, part of the Canary Islands, Spain.
1:50
Chris Mcgrath/Getty Images
Race to contain hantavirus with at least 10 states monitoring at least 18 people
By Christopher Watson, Ivan Pereira, Jon Haworth, Mary Kekatos, Nadine El-Bawab, Leah Sarnoff, Kevin Shalvey
Last Updated: May 14, 2026, 3:21 PM

The total number of confirmed and probable cases of hantavirus of those who were onboard the MV Hondius cruise ship stands at 10, including two people confirmed to have died from the virus and one person who remains suspected to have died from the virus.

Sixteen American passengers arrived on Monday at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Fifteen of those passengers were being monitored in a quarantine unit and another, who had initially tested positive, was in a biocontainment unit, officials said. Later, that person tested negative and was medically cleared to go to the quarantine unit.

Two other American passengers were flown to Atlanta for "further assessment and care," officials said.

Key Headlines

  • 23 US residents under monitoring by 11 state health departments
  • 3 in Kansas taken to hospital for observation after being exposed to hantavirus abroad
  • American doctor who initially tested positive moved from isolation after negative test
  • American in quarantine gives video update
Here's how the news is developing.

Pinned
May 08, 2026 5:17 PM

What is hantavirus and how does it spread?

Here's what you need to know about hantavirus including what it is, how it spreads, how it's treated and if there are any prevention methods:

What is hantavirus?

Hantaviruses are a family of viruses that can cause serious illnesses and death, according to the CDC.

PHOTO: Stock photo of a colorized electron micrograph of the Hantavirus.
Alfred Pasieka/Science Photo Lib/STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images
Stock photo of a colorized electron micrograph of the Hantavirus.
Alfred Pasieka/Science Photo Lib/STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images

How does hantavirus spread?

Hantaviruses may also spread from person to person, but that also is rare and only suspected for one subtype from South America, according to the WHO.

Read more about hantavirus here.


Pinned
May 14, 2026 2:12 PM

3 in Kansas taken to hospital for observation after being exposed to hantavirus abroad

Three people in Kansas who have been under monitoring by the state's health department for potential hantavirus infection have been transported to a hospital for observation, a department spokesperson told ABC News.

It is not clear why they were transported and if any of the three have shown signs of symptoms.

Kansas’ health department initially announced on Tuesday that these three people -- who were not cruise ship passengers -- were exposed to an infected individual abroad. The department said their exposure was "high risk" and said at the time that they were not showing any signs of illness.

-ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud


May 14, 2026 3:21 PM

23 US residents under monitoring by 11 state health departments

North Dakota’s health department said it is monitoring five individuals who were exposed to a sick hantavirus cruise ship member abroad. None of these five people were on the cruise ship, the department said.

PHOTO: The cruise ship MV Hondius leaves Praia, Cape Verde, May 6, 2026.
Stringer/Reuters
The cruise ship MV Hondius leaves Praia, Cape Verde, May 6, 2026.
Stringer/Reuters


There are now 11 state health departments monitoring a total of at least 23 people, none of whom have symptoms.

The other states monitoring people are Texas, California, Georgia, Virginia, Arizona, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington, Kansas and Minnesota.

-ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud


May 14, 2026 2:12 PM

3 in Kansas taken to hospital for observation after being exposed to hantavirus abroad

Three people in Kansas who have been under monitoring by the state's health department for potential hantavirus infection have been transported to a hospital for observation, a department spokesperson told ABC News.

It is not clear why they were transported and if any of the three have shown signs of symptoms.

Kansas’ health department initially announced on Tuesday that these three people -- who were not cruise ship passengers -- were exposed to an infected individual abroad. The department said their exposure was "high risk" and said at the time that they were not showing any signs of illness.

-ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud


May 14, 2026 1:56 AM

American doctor who initially tested positive moved from isolation after negative test

Dr. Stephen Kornfeld, who identified himself as the first American who initially tested positive for hantavirus from samples taken on the cruise ship, has now tested negative in subsequent testing, he told ABC News.

The testing was originally listed as inconclusive per the World Health Organization because of a positive and negative test result returned from a Dutch lab. Health officials had proceeded with caution and labeled him as a positive case.

PHOTO: In this undated file photo, the Davis Global Center is shown in Omaha, Nebraska.
UNMC and Nebraska Medicine
In this undated file photo, the Davis Global Center is shown in Omaha, Nebraska.
UNMC and Nebraska Medicine

Kornfeld was moved from the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit to the National Quarantine Unit, alongside his fellow passengers, according to a statement from Nebraska Medicine.

-ABC News' Youri Benadjaoud and Vera Drymon



May 13, 2026 8:15 PM

CDC retesting American passenger who contracted virus

Officials with the U.S. Centers or Disease Control and Preventionupdated the public on the hantavirus situation and reiterated the risk to the U.S. population remains low.

Dr. David Fitter, the incident manager for CDC’s hantavirus response, told reporters in a telephone news conference that the agency has over 100 staff working full time on the outbreak.

PHOTO: Port vessels accompany the MV Hondius as it departs the Granadilla Port after all passengers were evacuated on May 11, 2026 in Tenerife, part of the Canary Islands, Spain.
Chris Mcgrath/Getty Images
Port vessels accompany the MV Hondius as it departs the Granadilla Port after all passengers were evacuated on May 11, 2026 in Tenerife, part of the Canary Islands, Spain.
Chris Mcgrath/Getty Images


Dr. Brendan Jackson, the CDC team lead in Nebraska where some of the U.S. passengers of the MV Hondius are quarantining, said that the one passenger who tested positive did his tests abroad but they were inconclusive.

"We got a positive and a negative abroad, so we want to redo the test here in the U.S.," he said.

The CDC is awaiting the results of that new test, Jackson said.

-ABC News' Eric Strauss


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