US health authorities stated this Tuesday, May 6, 2026, that the risk to the American population posed by the hantavirus situation is “very low,” and affirmed that they are already coordinating actions with national and international authorities.
Jay Bhattacharya, Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), indicated in a message posted on X that the agency began coordinating with national and international partners “as soon as” it was notified of a hantavirus situation aboard the cruise ship M/V Hondius.
Bhattacharya added that hantavirus “is not transmitted by people without symptoms” and that transmission requires “close contact.”
Health authorities are keeping US passengers who were aboard the vessel under surveillance, noting that individuals in at least three states—Georgia, California, and Arizona—are currently being monitored.
However, they clarified that “no American has shown symptoms of illness so far.”
The hantavirus outbreak was detected aboard the expedition cruise ship M/V Hondius, which was undertaking a voyage across the South Atlantic after departing from Ushuaia, Argentina.
Spain agreed to receive the vessel in the Canary Islands following a request from the World Health Organization (WHO), while health authorities coordinate medical evacuations, passenger isolation, and potential repatriation plans.
Hantavirus is a disease transmitted primarily by infected rodents through saliva, urine, or feces. It can cause a severe respiratory syndrome; although some variants can be transmitted between people through close contact, health authorities consider the risk of transmission to the general population to be low.
