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Live Updates
ABC News

Hantavirus live updates: WHO hunts for source of virus

PHOTO: A Spanish passenger boards a government plane after disembarking from the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius at the airport in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, May 10, 2026.
1:35
Arturo Rodriguez/AP
Officials tracking at least 41 Americans after deadly hantavirus outbreak
By Christopher Watson, Ivan Pereira, Jon Haworth, Mary Kekatos, Nadine El-Bawab, Leah Sarnoff, Kevin Shalvey
Last Updated: May 16, 2026, 3:02 AM

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.

No cases of Andes hantavirus have been confirmed in the U.S. The eighteen American ship passengers are being monitored at the quarantine unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Key Headlines

  • Health officials in Washington state tracking hantavirus case unrelated to cruise ship
  • 2 cruise ship passengers originally in Atlanta now at Nebraska quarantine facility
  • Suspected hantavirus case at upstate New York high school, not linked to cruise ship
  • US has no cases of Andes hantavirus
  • WHO hunts for hantavirus source
  • American doctor who initially tested positive says further testing shows 'no evidence that I've had hantavirus'
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 16, 2026 3:02 AM

Health officials in Washington state tracking hantavirus case unrelated to cruise ship

Washington health officials Friday night said they were tracking a hantavirus case that is unrelated to the cruise ship outbreak.

The person was infected after exposure to a rodent, the Washington State Department of Health said in a news release. The person was infected with a strain of hantavirus that does not spread person to person, the health department said.

Separately, the department said it is aware of six people that were former cruise ship passengers or exposed to an infected cruise ship passenger on a flight -- part of the 41 people across the country under monitoring for potential infection. None have shown any signs of illness.

-ABC News' Youri Benadjaoud


May 16, 2026 3:02 AM

Health officials in Washington state tracking hantavirus case unrelated to cruise ship

Washington health officials Friday night said they were tracking a hantavirus case that is unrelated to the cruise ship outbreak.

The person was infected after exposure to a rodent, the Washington State Department of Health said in a news release. The person was infected with a strain of hantavirus that does not spread person to person, the health department said.

Separately, the department said it is aware of six people that were former cruise ship passengers or exposed to an infected cruise ship passenger on a flight -- part of the 41 people across the country under monitoring for potential infection. None have shown any signs of illness.

-ABC News' Youri Benadjaoud


May 15, 2026 8:54 PM

2 cruise ship passengers originally in Atlanta now at Nebraska quarantine facility

The two repatriated cruise ship passengers who were being monitored at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta have now been transferred to the quarantine facility in Nebraska, according to Nebraska Medicine.

Now all of the 18 American ship passengers are under monitoring at the Nebraska quarantine unit.


May 15, 2026 7:25 PM

Suspected hantavirus case at upstate New York high school, not linked to cruise ship

Officials in Ontario County in upstate New York said they're “investigating a suspected locally acquired hantavirus case” involving a Geneva High School student. Geneva is about 45 miles southeast of Rochester.

The Ontario County Public Health Department stressed that the case is not linked to the cruise ship and “there is no risk to the general public.” Hantavirus strains in the U.S. don’t spread from person-to-person, the health department said, and is only “spread through mouse and rodent droppings, especially when urine, feces, or nesting materials become aerosolized during cleaning."

The Geneva City School District said "there is no evidence of risk to other students or staff."

The school district said it's "continuing to work closely with the Ontario County Department of Health and will continue to follow any guidance provided by public health officials."

-ABC News’ Matt Foster



May 15, 2026 7:08 PM

US has no cases of Andes hantavirus

The U.S. currently has no cases of the Andes hantavirus, officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at a briefing Friday.

The Andes version of hantavirus does not pass easily between people, and requires close, prolonged exposure, said the CDC’s incident manager for hantavirus, Dr. David Fitter. The CDC only recommends testing symptomatic people, Fitter said.

He said anyone with high-risk exposure should follow strict quarantine protocols. He classified high-risk exposure as anyone who was still on the cruise ship between May 5 and May 10, as well as anyone who had close, prolonged contact with someone who has Andes hantavirus, including sitting on a plane near someone with hantavirus.

PHOTO: A boat sails beside the cruise ship, MV Hondius, hit by Hantavirus as it is anchored off Cape Verde port, in Praia Port, Cape Verde, May 5, 2026.
Reuters TV via Reuters
A boat sails beside the cruise ship, MV Hondius, hit by Hantavirus as it is anchored off Cape Verde port, in Praia Port, Cape Verde, May 5, 2026.
Reuters TV via Reuters


CDC officials said they will not offer any updates on the conditions of the 16 cruise ship passengers currently in quarantine in Nebraska, including if they are currently symptomatic, citing privacy.

-ABC News’ Eric Strauss


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