Hantavirus could be reaching “all corners” of the world…
We’ve been following the scary circumstances of that cruise ship outbreak. There are already eight suspected cases of hantavirus — a deadly disease usually spread via rodent feces, but in this case, patients have a rare strain called Andes virus that can be transferred from human to human! Eep! Three people have sadly already lost their lives, and several others are receiving medical care. Plus, a whole bunch of people are stuck on the ship!
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But this virus isn’t only impacting those on the ship. It’s already spreading. A passenger who’d gotten off the ship before the disease was discovered was contacted earlier this week, and he went to a Swiss hospital and tested positive for the virus. His wife is isolating, but she doesn’t have symptoms yet. There have also been unconfirmed reports that someone in France — who was never on the ship but was infected by a passenger on a plane — came down with hantavirus, too!
And now fears are growing as it’s revealed there are over two dozen former passengers wandering around the world out there, who were only informed days ago of the deadly virus they could potentially be carrying!
Speaking to El Pais on Wednesday, someone on MV Hondius claimed there were 23 individuals who left the boat:
“Twenty‑three people got off in Saint Helena. There are 23 people wandering around there, and until three days ago, no one had contacted them.”
The passenger claimed:
“We were in touch with them and kept asking ourselves, ‘When are they going to tell them something?’ Some people weren’t contacted until yesterday.”
Despite the first passenger dying onboard on April 11, the cruise ship’s operator Oceanwide Expeditions says “the first confirmed case of hantavirus was not reported until” May 4.
The anonymous passenger added:
“The Australian went back to Australia, the one from Taiwan to Taiwan, the Americans to all corners of North America. The Englishman to England, the Dutch to their homes… I don’t remember the rest, but no Spaniards.”
According to the ship’s operator on Thursday, there are actually 30 guests from all over the world who got off the ship on April 24, 2026, including 6 Americans! You can see the full breakdown of nationalities HERE.
We’ve heard that people in California, Arizona, Georgia, and Virginia are being closely monitored for potential infection. So far, none have reportedly shown signs of sickness, according to the NYT. Fingers crossed it stays that way! But, as a reminder, it can take up to eight weeks for symptoms to start showing. That’s what makes this so unnerving. There’s no telling how many people all these passengers have come in contact with! Health officials have maintained the risk to the general public is low, and we sure hope that’s true.
As always, our condolences to those who’ve lost a loved one and well-wishes to all the patients currently battling this disease.
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