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.
- Emerging hantavirus risks in mass gatherings: epidemiology, diagnostic challenges, and outbreak preparednessDiagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease
- Wavefront propagation in a hyperbolic model of hantavirus infectionMathematics and Computers in Simulation
- Could bradykinin pathway inhibition change the course of severe hantavirus disease?Immunology Letters
- Driven magnetic 3D DNA walker coupled with CHA based on light-activatable hairpin: A dual-amplification strategy for ultrasensitive hantavirus RNA sensingAnalytica Chimica Acta
- Artificial intelligence for chest imaging in hantavirus pulmonary syndrome: A review of practical considerations for rare-disease imagingClinical Imaging
- Outbreak at Sea: The MV Hondius Hantavirus Cluster as a Sentinel for Global Pandemic ReadinessInternational Journal of Infectious Diseases
- Hantavirus Andean outbreak on an Antarctic cruise ship – confirmation from the frontlineIJID One Health
- Serologic Evidence of Hantavirus Exposure in Humans, Italy, 2004–2018Emerging Infectious Diseases
- Microbe snapshots: Hantavirus (Sin Nombre)Clinical Microbiology Newsletter
- Redox-dependent folding of hantavirus glycoproteins as a mechanistic link between Andes virus biogenesis and endothelial barrier failureMedical Hypotheses
- Hantavirus surveillance gaps in AfricaIJID One Health
- Serologic Evidence of Hantavirus Exposure in Humans, Italy, 2004–2018Emerging Infectious Diseases
- Health officials say new hantavirus patient in Spain may have been contagious for 10 daysAnadolu Ajansı
- Rare hantavirus case confirmed after visit to FranceThe Connexion
- France recommends home isolation for close contacts of hantavirus case, risk 'low' - HESPRESS EnglishMorocco News
- Hantavirus detected in France tourist now isolated in Spaineuractiv.com
- Visited in July: Tourist in France tests positive for hantavirusRTL Today
- A new case of hantavirus in Europe, unrelated to the epidemic on the cruise ship that caused three victims.Informat.ro
- A new case of hantavirus detected in Spain in a French-Argentine tourist: the patient remains isolated and asymptomaticEl Constitucional
- Cumming Global Centre for Pandemic Therapeutics announces projects to accelerate therapeutics for Ebola and hantavirusDoherty Institute
- CO26168 | From Hantavirus to Ebola: Rebuilding Trust in Health and Biosecurity GovernanceS. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS)
- Hantavirus explained: from hamsters to human trialsUnderstanding Animal Research
- MV Hondius Passenger Quarantined on Remote Pacific Islandtovima.com
- Rapid response and surveillance for high-risk contacts during May 2026 Andes hantavirus outbreak: a Northern Italy experienceFrontiers in Public Health
- Broad-Spectrum Multi-Epitope Design Targeting Conserved Hantavirus Glycoproteins (Gn/Gc): Chimeric Antigen Engineering and Structural MappingInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences
- Diagnostic Gaps as a Hidden Barrier to Hantavirus Vaccine DevelopmentAnnals of Laboratory Medicine
- Hantavirus at sea: rethinking zoonotic disease risk in the age of ecotourismFuture Virology
- Chile declares health alert for hantavirusOutbreak News Today
- Andes virus, hantavirus infections, and the unresolved question of transfusion transmissionTransfusion and Apheresis Science
- Cruise-linked Andes virus and severe hantavirus lung disease: A narrative reviewClinical Infection in Practice
- Hanta on the Hondius - public health and bioethical perspectives of the recent Andes hantavirus cruise ship outbreakNew Microbes and New Infections
- Andes hantavirus in South America: Emerging epidemiological trends, regional challenges, and lessons beyond the MV Hondius outbreakNew Microbes and New Infections
- 2026 NewsThe University of Maryland, Baltimore
- New NEJM Review Highlights Clinical Preparedness for Andes Virusnetec.org
- The Ordeal of a 42-Day Hantavirus Quarantine: ‘I Felt Like a Prisoner’The New York Times
- After cruise ship outbreak, review examines how hantavirus affects the brainCIDRAP
- Manifold’s Hondius Hantavirus Market: Why Bettors Put Just 2% on a Non-Passenger Case - tech-insider.orgGoogle News
- Postscript to the Hantavirus OutbreakTristanDC.com
- U.S. citizens on hantavirus cruise ship monitored at Nebraska MedicineAmerican Hospital Association
- How Industry Can Help Prevent the Next Cruise Ship OutbreakThink Global Health
- 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
- Hantavirus outbreak linked to cruise ship over after last contact completes quarantine: WHO - ABC NewsBreaking News, Latest News and Videos
- WHO declares cruise-linked hantavirus outbreak officially overAl Jazeera
- WHO declares hantavirus outbreak linked to cruise ship overThe Guardian
- Hantavirus Cruise Ship Outbreak Over, WHO SaysForbes
- The irony of the hantavirus quarantineYour Local Epidemiologist
- HHS says U.S. hantavirus monitoring tied to MV Hondius has endedNonStop Local KHQ
- Hantavirus quarantine ends; no cases in the US - WSB-TVGoogle News
- US public health agency concludes hantavirus response as outbreak easesAl Jazeera
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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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.