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Your Hantavirus questions answered
Editor-at-Large for Pubic Health at KFF Health News Dr. Celine Gounder joins LiveNOW from FOX's Carel Lajara to answer your questions about the Hantavirus as cruise sip patients arrive in Europe for treatment.
Three cruise ship passengers have died and others have been sickened by an outbreak of hantavirus – a rare, rodent-borne infection that can quickly become life-threatening.
As world health authorities work to contain the spread aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship, here’s why experts say hantavirus is not something most people should worry about.
What is hantavirus?
Big picture view:
The word hantavirus refers to a broad family of viruses, with different versions in different countries. It comes from contact with rodents or their urine, saliva or feces, particularly when it’s inhaled.
RELATED: 3 more patients evacuated from cruise with rare hantavirus outbreak
Hantavirus infections are relatively uncommon globally. In 2025, eight countries within the Americas had documented 229 cases and 59 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.
What they're saying:
"This is not the next COVID, but it is a serious infectious disease," Maria Van Kerkhove, director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness at the World Health Organization, told The Associated Press. "Most people will never be exposed to this."
Hantavirus – which refers to a broad family of viruses – comes from contact with rodents or their urine, saliva or feces, particularly when it’s inhaled. (Photo by Joao Luiz Bulcao / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images)
An infection can quickly become life-threatening. Death rates vary by which hantavirus causes the illness. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is fatal in about 35% of people infected, while the death rate for hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome varies from 1% to 15% of patients, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Despite years of research, many questions have yet to be answered, including why it can be mild for some people and severe for others and how antibodies are developed. Some researchers have been following patients over long periods of time in hopes of finding a treatment.
How does hantavirus spread?
People are typically exposed to hantavirus around their homes, cabins or sheds, especially when cleaning enclosed spaces with little ventilation or exploring areas with mouse droppings.
Most U.S. cases are in Western states. New Mexico and Arizona are hot spots, likely because the odds are greater for mouse-human encounters in rural areas.
The only one of the hantaviruses that’s been found to spread from person to person is the Andes virus, which has been confirmed in the current cruise ship outbreak.
Even then, transmission between people does not happen easily and requires "close and prolonged’’ contact, according to the WHO.
Argentina’s health ministry said hantavirus led to 28 deaths nationwide last year. The ministry on Tuesday reported 101 hantavirus infections since June 2025, roughly double the caseload recorded over the same period the previous year.
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Hantavirus explained
Three patients with suspected hantavirus infections were evacuated from a cruise ship and being flown to the Netherlands on Wednesday, the U.N. health agency said, as the vessel at the center of a deadly outbreak remained off Cape Verde with nearly 150 people on board waiting to head to Spain’s Canary Islands. Board certified physician Dr. Leigh Vinocur joined LiveNOW from FOX's Christy Matino to explain what the virus is and how it spreads.
Hantavirus symptoms
Dig deeper:
Hantavirus symptoms can feel a lot like the flu. Fever, chills, muscle aches and maybe a headache are common.
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which can cause the lungs to fill with fluid, usually presents between one and eight weeks after exposure to an infected rodent.
The other syndrome caused by hantavirus — known as hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, which can cause bleeding, high fever, and kidney failure — usually develops within a week or two after exposure.
Hantavirus treatment
There is no treatment or cure for hantavirus, but medical experts say early diagnosis can increase the chance of survival.
Hantavirus prevention
What you can do:
Public health experts say the best way to avoid hantavirus is to minimize contact with rodents and their droppings. Use protective gloves and a bleach solution for cleaning up rodent droppings. Don’t clean them up by sweeping or vacuuming, which can cause virus particles to get into the air.
The Source: This article includes information from The Associated Press and previous FOX Local reporting.