CDC chief: Hantavirus is ‘very different than COVID’ as cases land on American soil

A hantavirus outbreak that killed three people aboard a European cruise ship has reached American soil, with one U.S. passenger testing positive and health officials in Maryland and Virginia monitoring residents with potential exposure.

One of 17 Americans evacuated from the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius tested positive for the virus and was transported to the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit upon arriving in the U.S. Monday. The passenger tested positive but had no symptoms, according to The Nebraska Medical Center.

Maryland health officials said they are monitoring two state residents who shared a flight with an infected cruise ship passenger. Neither was aboard the Hondius, and officials said the infected passenger was on the flight only “briefly.”

Virginia is tracking a resident who disembarked the ship before the outbreak was fully identified. Dr. Brandy Darby of the Virginia Department of Health told WUSA-TV the resident “continues to be healthy.”

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, urged the public not to panic. Hantavirus is “very different than COVID, and we should treat it differently,” he told CBS News, adding that person-to-person transmission is “much, much more difficult.”

The Andes strain detected in the outbreak — the first ever on a cruise ship — has killed three passengers. Nine cases have been confirmed worldwide. There is no cure or vaccine.

Read more:

• Spain reports new hantavirus case in passenger from cruise ship as confirmed infections grow to 9

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• Maryland officials monitoring two people for hantavirus after they flew with infected passenger

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