Hantavirus outbreak aboard MV Hondius kills three, WHO says not a pandemic

scienceMay 8, 2026863,694

At least three passengers have died and several cases of Andes hantavirus have been confirmed among travelers aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius. The cluster was reported to the World Health Organization on May 2, 2026, and includes passengers from multiple countries, with two Texas residents identified among those exposed. WHO says the outbreak is not a pandemic threat but urges intensive contact tracing and monitoring because Andes hantavirus can transmit between people and causes severe pulmonary disease. Public health agencies are following passengers and close contacts to prevent international spread and detect additional cases early.

MeidasTouch

@meidastouch.com

CNN reports the CDC is dispatching teams to meet the hantavirus-stricken MV Hondius cruise ship and escort American passengers back to the U.S. Passengers are expected to be quarantined in Nebraska. www.cnn.com/2026/05/08/h...

72510h ago

jsev44.bsky.social65

Some health food, sit ups and raccoon penis and they’ll be fine in no time

Jim Brown41

Oh lord…please not another pandemic with the #ApricotAnus in charge 😨

xCh3ckerx27

The center of the country?

The Resistance CO25

Seems like a good epicenter for the latest fuck up from this regime.

Skipper19

In 2025, the Trump Regime laid off all full-time employees in the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP), responsible for inspecting cruise ships & investigating outbreaks--which impacted the CDC's ability to conduct in-person inspections. The program was funded by the cruise industry, not taxpayers.

Trauma Mary16

Well at least they are going to a good unit. I've read up on that unit back when we were dealing with ebola. They know their stuff

BeaglesResist❌👑We Are Not Moving on from the trumpstein Files14

I know a lot of people love cruises but this industry should have been ended with Covid. Besides being floating petri dishes, cruise ships are big polluters of our already-struggling ocean environments. Now we live in a time when politicians actively oppose disease precautions and prevention.

putawomanincharge.bsky.social12

This could be really serious. And RFK jr? No f ing way

txsilverbear.bsky.social8

There it is. RKF “Meh Brainworm” Kennedy, Jr. will see to it that any infected people are somehow let outside of whatever quarantine they are put in and then they can use the epidemic as a reason to stop midterms. Mark my words, there is going to be something happen surrounding this.

noahs-arc0602.bsky.social8

Are you kidding so under Trump we have another possible spread of a deadly plague . Person I think they need to be quarantined on the boat . Just what America needs

SafeAmericaPAC7

The "CDC is dispatching teams". Teams? Oh, they mean the lone guy left in the infectious diseases department. Hope he brings a mask. Or a UV light to shine down his throat.

Annmarie6

I'm old enough to remember the last time the "escorted" sick passengers off a cruise ship infected with Covid. 1.2 million dead Americans later...

Dogs10Gods06

Nebraska overwhelmingly voted for trump, so this seems fair. 🤔 RFK Jr should be welcomed with open arms there!! 🤷‍♀️

K🤦‍♀️𝙑6

I didn’t know people still worked at the CDC. 🤷‍♀️ Also, they’re gonna ship them way out to Nebraska, because in one new cycle they hope media will forget that they’re way the hell out there.

CatHostage6

I cannot imagine anything more horrifying than having been exposed to a deadly disease and then rounded up by THIS CDC. I'm envisioning a movie where the sick person spends the whole time trying desperately to escape so they can see a doctor.

kimby7000.bsky.social5

Absolutely! University of Nebraska Medical Center Biocontainment Center! Remember when those people who had Ebola during 2014 outbreak. That's where those people went...state of the art in containment. Probably the best place for them. From a proud "blue dot" Nebraskan

Benj5

I remember when conservatives considered these kinds of measures tyrannical...

Middlerage5

So in other words, Fuck you Nebraska 🫠

Debbie Chavez Vinette5

We still have a CDC?

lotusfalling.bsky.social5

Leave them all on the ship. Why are they bringing the disease here? And why the hell don't they have an island on each coast for this sort of thing?

adorableoddities.bsky.social5

Pretty sure this is how trump let covid into the US as well.

Vet_Grandma AKA Madam Defarge4

Oh lucky them!!! They should feel so much safer now!

Mountain Blew4

This has a really high mortality rate, and human to human transmission is rare, but these viruses mutate. What's to say that this one hasn't done that ! Pretty scary !

asteraceaeg.bsky.social4

Umm… I thought there were some passengers who disembarked early & are back in the US & hadn’t heard from authorities. Did I read that wrong?

Plain Simple Garak4

Me last night: Well at least it was in the middle of the ocean, so they can sort it out in some coastal area.. Today: *RFK moves threat to the geographical center of the country*

Laurie R4

Sounds like a rinse and repeat like Covid…….remember, it was contained……right!!🤬

Obearwan_Kenobi4

I simply do not trust the US to handle this well. No telling what kind of BS RFK Jr. is about to spew.

AwntieWithaW3

All the need is to drink milk in a hot tub while wearing jeans

Josie3

What could go wrong 😳🤦‍♀️ Do we even have any credible people left in the CDC?

Agrippa3

RFK Jnr is heading to Nebraska to oversee the situation. Racoons are booking flights to Florida and tanning beds are booked out.

MOLLOY3

why hasn't this boat been torpedoed yet?

SammyTheCat2

Oh, which of the ignorant, deadly Dump regime’s remaining “CDC teams” are left to meet the American passengers who are aboard the plague ship? 😡

ab4aoc.bsky.social2

Why did the national news say last night that people are already in Virginia, Texas, California and Arizona from the boat? And the only state willing to say if they are quarantining was Arizona and that person is not quarantining.

lindakp.bsky.social2

Has the CDC even got enough employees left to form a "team"??

Roel Griffioen2

I hope there are a few sensible people left at the CDC.

Michele ✌️💙2

Is there anyone left in the CDC that isn’t a quack?

LetsFaceIt2

I hope they have enough livestock deworming medicine.

Mandy's Mom2

Nebraska must have stockpiles of Ivermectin and bleach injections ready to go.

ARTSTRADA MAGAZINE2

Do they swarm the ship, yank off everyone's "woke" mask, kickem in the crotch and inject them with Ivermectin in 2026?

RED WHITE & SHOE2

Yup. Just went to the store and doubled my purchase of TP.

Our Lady of Perpetual Disappointment2

Is Nebraska where the best medical care for human-to-human transmission Hanta virus is located?

Ugly Old Man2

Ah, the great coastal state of Nebraska

Vintage Gay✌️2

We still have a CDC? 🙄

bergstromk.bsky.social2

Too late!!!!!!!! They already let infected people back in the US days ago. Trump and his administration are morons!!!!!!

sewin.bsky.social2

We still have a CDC?

Richard Mhortai2

Why do I have a feeling this ends badly....

Vicky S MEd Be A Reader2

Are they going to a detention center?

Diana2

Noting California voters would be fools not electing the former Secretary of HHS during the Pandemic, as the next Governor. This isn't a time for trainees... Becerra has specific experience, and Biden's HHS saved so many lives. With RFK, jr. at HHS, we're at a public health tipping point.

qakl.bsky.social2

As trump opined about covid, we'll all be ok.

nancymaine24.bsky.social2

Hopefully on a CDC jet, in hazmat gear, and kept in quarantine for however long it takes. I also hope the other countries do the same. The last thing we need is another pandemic with the 🍊🤡 in charge.

Leah McElrath

@leahmcelrath.bsky.social

⚠️ The CDC has activated its Emergency Operations Centers and classified the hantavirus outbreak as Level 3. Level 3 is the lowest level of emergency activation and means risk to the general public remains low but the situation is being actively monitored.

20122h ago

Leah McElrath43

Common hantavirus is transmitted primarily through contact with rodents. The Andes strain, however, can be transmitted human-to-human. Andes hantavirus is NOT thought to be as transmissible as COVID but rather is understood to require close contact with an infected individual. More info here:

wth are we even doing?5

Who in the CDC? How reliable is their reporting?

Franklin MacDougal 🐾 🫘🐸🤘4

They're monitoring it. I feel very confident... we're all going to die!!!!

PeaceSeeker2

Thank you for a sane, reasoned, responsible description of the situation.

Olga Nesterova

@onestpress.onestnetwork.com

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention activated its Emergency Operations Centers and has classified the hantavirus outbreak as "Level 3," multiple sources told ABC News. Context: Level 1 is the highest. Level 3 is the lowest

20616h ago

Vincenzo14

Are there any scientists left at the CDC? (Sarcasm, but…)

he dead yet?10

I'm surprised they still have Emergency Operations Centers tbh 🤷🏼‍♀️

Jayme Ruimveld9

Well, their announcement means absolutely nothing to us, but I have read informational posts from several knowledgeable medical doctors and it does seem that the risk for casual exposure is quite minimal. What world when the CDC speaks, you no longer listen. 🙄

civil4liberties.bsky.social6

So? In light of how trump screwed up the covid19 pandemic. And the quack we have running our healthcare. And now this? What is this, some kind of Apprentice Hunger Games?

Jay from Quahog4

So exactly like last time we’re not even fucking paying attention, perfect 😮‍💨

Shainzona3

BUT it has been classified a level - which means something more than not being talked about.

IdahoGal10062

Amazing to me that in both Trump's terms we get a virus to deal with. This one, after COVID, I think might be worse due to RFK Jr. and the decimation of the CDC.

David Ho

@davidho.bsky.social

America is full of really good people. Dr. Steve Kornfeld, a retired oncologist from Oregon, stepped in to care for fellow passengers suspected of having hantavirus on the MV Hondius cruise ship when the ship’s doctor became incapacitated.

22422h ago

🇨🇦Joe Vipond🇨🇦53

he used an N95 to care for patients. here's hoping he stays well. Since he only started seeing patients on May 1st, and there is up to a six week incubation period, time will tell. Praised be the caregivers.

Ariel Méndez13

From Bend, OR where I live! The local comments on this story have been so heartwarming. "Dr Kornfeld was my sister's oncologist. He is a wonderful, caring person." "He was my mother's oncologist & was SO good to her! ... when I was younger ... he had a license plate that said 'Corn Dog'"

Helen Branswell 🇨🇦

@helenbranswell.bsky.social

The #hantavirus outbreak on the cruise ship off the coast of Africa is a serious public health event that needs to be handled properly. But if you are having #Covid flashbacks, put those worries to rest. The risk here is to people on the ship & their close contacts. www.statnews.com/2026/05/07/h...

181Yesterday

Kalo_127.0.0.1 🇺🇦16

Having Covid flash backs bc people left the ship, didn’t isolate, flew in different parts of the world

David Metcalf15

'Close contacts' like potentially anyone who shared a flight with a positive case. Good luck to whoever is trying to track them down globally and trying to enforce symptom surveillance. bsky.app/profile/ther...

Krutika Kuppalli, MD FIDSA13

I think the hysteria is because people are having covid flashbacks and don’t understand this is a very different type of virus

Sanho Tree4

And flight attendants, apparently. nltimes.nl/2026/05/07/k...

adriana1o5.bsky.social3

and those who disembarked before it was diagnosed. So 🤷‍♀️ there are concerns this could go sideways

Tony Schountz3

This sentence, "Hantavirus infections, though rare, cause serious disease and have a high fatality rate" to "New World hantavirus infections, though rare, cause serious disease and have a high fatality rate." There are thousands of hantavirus cases each year in the Old World, with IFR of ~2%-15%.

Matthew Cortland (they)

@matthewcort.land

I am heartened that *state* public health officials in Georgia, Arizona & California are monitoring passengers from the MV Hondius. Because of the work of those state officials, I assess low risk to the general public at this time — but it's important we continue to pay attention 🧵

220Yesterday

Matthew Cortland (they)102

At a time when the HHS Secretary can hit a raccoon with his car, skin it, and grind its phallus up and snort it with cocaine all in a matter of hours, the ~45 day incubation period for hantavirus might not hold HHS' attention. State officials really are safety critical....🧵

Marta Costello2

I was not super psyched to learn of the 45 day incubation period however

SuMo📞Congress 202-224-3121📞CSPAN 202-748-8000

@sumoh7.bsky.social

📌🚨World Health Organization give update on cruise ship hantavirus outbreak BBC News 5/7/2026 www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMk6... (Starts at 2:15) #Hantavirus is deadly: from symptoms to death is 2-5 days! But has up to 6 weeks incubation period. So, extremely dangerous. Watch, share! #Momsky #MedSky

100Yesterday

SuMo📞Congress 202-224-3121📞CSPAN 202-748-800011

This is a human to human contact version of the #Hantavirus “Andes”. Tracing is in progress. Some people (from across the world including Canada, US, USA) had gotten off in St Helena and flew to Johannesburg. The ship is are headed to Canary Islands (Spain) for quarantine of remaining passengers.

Skyleigh Uhrich4

This is the variant that is human to human contact which it’s normally animal to human. Extremely dangerous situation!

Ebony Elizabeth Thomas

@ebonyteach.blacksky.app

Important context from an epidemiologist about the hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius. 🧵 Please share with your networks. Hantavirus isn't like Covid-19, even if it's the Andes variant that can be contracted person-to-person. The risk of a global pandemic is currently low.

115Yesterday

NBC News

@nbcnews.com

The deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard a Dutch-operated cruise ship with passengers of 23 nationalities is precisely the type of public health crisis the WHO is designed to tackle. But the U.S. formally left the WHO in January, after 78 years of membership.

9616h ago

732lighthouse.bsky.social3

1st term Trump: *destroyed pandemic protocols * pulled out of WHO *caused needless COVID deaths *destroyed Iran Deal & global climate coalitions, *dismantled gov, ETC! 2nd term: *tariffs *war *corruption *corruption! ETC! Tragically Trump’s DISASTROUS decisions will kill US all, one way or another‼️

moth2

ugh, this is exactly why we need global solidarity, not isolation. public health doesn't respect borders. how do we rebuild trust in international cooperation when our own govt pulls out?

chickenfoot87.bsky.social2

The US left the WHO due to its response to COVID. In other words, the WHO supports the use of science, not conspiracy theories or gateway hypothesis. COVID has killed 21 million, mass deaths from vaccination have not been proven, and the 2020 election was not stolen. The real threat to life is MAGA

Krutika Kuppalli, MD FIDSA

@krutikakuppalli.bsky.social

Right on cue. A new outbreak and immediate misinformation about “miracle cures.” Ivermectin is an antiparasitic drug, not a proven treatment for #hantavirus. Being an RNA virus does not mean ivermectin works against it. Promoting unsupported therapies during an outbreak causes real harm.

134Yesterday

Lzvolk8

Why hasn’t her MD license been pulled? dallasexpress.com/state/texas-...

Onisillos3

I'm getting the feeling that I should be investing in ivermectin manufacturers...

Joe Rojas-Burke2

Back in 2021, Methodist Hospital suspended Bowden’s hospital privileges for “spreading dangerous information which is not based in science”. Bowden sued (and recently lost, was ordered to reimburse the hospital for its expenses in defending against the suit). quackwatch.org/defamation-s...

James Umbanhowar2

Most RNA viruses don't even enter the nucleus, if I remember correctly.

S. Kramer2

Ugh! Not only is it disinformation, statements like her's make my pet's prescriptions more expensive.

Mary Jane Shanklin2

FIRST DO HARM is the #deathcult motto.

Dr Noor Bari

@njbbari3.bsky.social

#Hantavirus has a long incubation period. If this outbreak is handled well, contact tracing and isolation should shut it down pretty quickly. But lessons should be LEARNED.

135Yesterday

T. Ryan Gregory 🇨🇦103

All I want this time around is: 1. Stop assuming we know everything about all viruses or that viruses can't change. 2. Stop interviewing calm-mongerers who are consistently wrong. 3. Start employing the precautionary principle.

Dr Noor Bari18

Had* I mean, I don’t really know all the properties in this novel situation…

Jonathan Douglas PhD CPsych16

Like…if people start dying maybe PUT ON A %**#^^ MASK

Stevie Ped11

I'm still seeing no down side to wearing a mask when flying...

Barry McKinnon9

It's worrisome that the lesson most of the public learned from the first 3 months of covid was "don't harsh my mellow" and "my brunch is more important than anyone's health". The mortality rate is quite high for hantavirus, so maybe that will get people to pay attention.😒

Steph7

I don't trust the long incubation period at all. People had a hard enough time maintaining quarantines for a couple weeks after COVID exposure. This is up to 8 weeks. That's plenty of time for stir crazy to set in and for people to start wandering.

Stuart #FBPE 🇪🇺5

Avoid cruise ships? Just a suggestion. They are well known as floating Petri dishes

Author Michael R. Hicks4

I'm sorry, it's totally not your fault, but I literally laughed out loud when I read "If this outbreak is handled well..." I think that ship has already left port, slammed into an iceberg, broke in half, and sank with all hands.

John La Rooy3

We used to stop outbreaks with contact tracing. Now someone coughs near a possum and we hold three press conferences and post an infographic on Instagram. We can’t do it anymore, boys. We just don’t know how.

Terry Boyd3

People learning from the past?!?!? Hahahhahhahhahahhahhahahhahahahahh!! Nothing will be done until the first billionaire dies from it. (and even then, all that is likely to happen is that they drop out of public view for a while as they hide in their hermetically isolated bunkers.)

Sansnom3

Contact tracing already failed. Two dozen passengers departed without tracing 24 April for a dozen countries. www.pilotonline.com/2026/05/07/p...

There is No Planet Kepler 22-B Ⓥ2

Such a very big if. Not sure how much faith I have, at least in the US, of this being handled properly.

Kai Kupferschmidt

@kakape.bsky.social

So what happens next with the cruise ship MV Hondius and its passengers and crew? My story about how little we know about Andes virus transmission and deciding what to do now.“Honestly, I feel lucky that I am not in a situation that I need to make any decision,” says virologist Gustavo Palacios. 🧪

8120h ago

AnnieOakleyinGA

@annie1x.bsky.social

#Pinks #ProudBlue Eight people have been linked to the Hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius. Three people have died. This particular strain is believed to be spread person to person. www.usatoday.com/story/travel...

60Yesterday

Bill Wong 11

www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-cru... Cause and Effect #ThanksTrump #ThanksRFKJr

Wicky5

What’s Junior doing to stop the spread? Anything? Come on, Bobby—use all that expertise you have.

James Who Lives in Queens5

Why the hell does tRump have to always be the president for when these outbreaks of deadly disease occur?

Gayle Dourn Plantz4

40 percent mortality rate folks.

dinestars.bsky.social3

JFKJr……. any thoughts and prayers? You dismantled the agency needed . So far 3 deaths…..

lawrscott.bsky.social2

Why in the fuck are we letting them disembark and fly home. What about a quarantine period? ffs, did we learn nothing?

tastewart 🦋2

How? Didn’t Kennedy fire ALL those f the people at the CDC who monitored this sort of thing?? How long until a case hits our shores!!

Denis - The COVID Info Guy

@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social

"A Dutch flight attendant has been hospitalized with possible hantavirus after coming into contact with an individual infected on board the MV Hondius cruise ship." Source: archive.md/2cwpE

This image shows a Newsweek article by Matthew Robinson titled "Flight Attendant Hospitalized As Hantavirus Testing Starts In Singapore." The accompanying photo shows medical personnel in full-body protective gear (white and bright orange biohazard suits) standing at the back of a yellow ambulance on an airport tarmac, with part of an airplane visible in the background.

78Yesterday

Noor Lovelace10

Who could have possibly thought that sending people onto commercial planes after exposure to a deadly virus would be a bad idea? SMH these people in charge are clowns

GW4

Add a Singaporean in Isolation- symptomatic, one of 2, the other asymptomatic. I believe they may already be in Singapore.

Wildflower4

Flight attendants are so vulnerable to whatever shit people are infected with. I couldn't do that job. #Respect

kianopoly.bsky.social3

we really gonna do 2 of these, the one still going on and this one they are denying already as it starts

Liz (TheLongCovidNurse)2

Well we’ve been here before.

Pop Base

@popbase.tv

Israel has confirmed their first recorded case of a human with hantavirus. They reportedly contracted a different strain of the virus months ago, unrelated to the MV Hondius cruise ship outbreak.