No U.S. Hantavirus Cases Reported Amid Global Outbreak As of Friday morning, no confirmed cases of hantavirus have been reported in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This update comes amid a global outbreak that has resulted in three deaths, 10 confirmed infections, and the quarantine of dozens of individuals. The CDC confirmed the absence of U.S. cases following a new round of testing at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, which assessed patients potentially exposed to the virus. The agency is currently monitoring at least 41 individuals across 16 states who may have been exposed to the virus. Half of these individuals are isolating at home, while the other half are being observed at medical facilities in Omaha, Atlanta, and Kansas City. Dr. Stephen Kornfeld, a physician from Oregon, was the only American patient who tested positive for hantavirus aboard the MV Hondius before disembarking and returning to the U.S. However, a subsequent test conducted on the ship yielded a negative result. Kornfeld has remained asymptomatic since his return on Monday, as confirmed by the CDC. NBC News has contacted Kornfeld for further comment. Officials have indicated that the initial positive test aboard the ship was likely a false positive, and that Kornfeld does not have antibodies to the virus, suggesting he was never exposed or infected. As the sole American with a confirmed case, Kornfeld was treated in a biocontainment unit at Omaha’s medical facility before moving to a quarantine unit. He is among 15 others in the U.S. who were on the voyage and are now in quarantine. Two additional passengers are receiving treatment at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.#world_health_organization #centers_for_disease_control #mv_hondius #university_of_nebraska_medical_center #dr_stephen_kornfeld
British Tourist Quarantined in Italy After Being on Same Flight as Woman Who Died from Hantavirus A British man in his 60s was detained in Milan, Italy, and placed in quarantine after being identified as having traveled on the same flight as Mirjam Schilperoord, a Dutch woman who died from hantavirus. The 69-year-old woman, who was married to Leo Schilperoord, 70, contracted the virus during a visit to a landfill site in Ushuaia, Argentina, before boarding the MV Hondius cruise ship. Authorities in Italy apprehended the British tourist and his companion, who was not on the flight, at a bar and transported them to Sacco Hospital for a 42-day isolation period. Both individuals tested negative for the disease but were required to remain in quarantine until June 6. The Dutch couple, residents of Haulerwijk, a small village in the Netherlands, had embarked on a five-month trip across South America before their exposure to the hantavirus. On March 27, they visited a landfill site four miles outside Ushuaia, where Argentinian officials believe they contracted the Andes strain of the virus through contact with infected rodents. Four days later, on April 1, they boarded the MV Hondius, which carried 112 passengers, and set sail from Ush. By April 6, Leo Schilperoord began experiencing symptoms including fever, headache, stomach pain, and diarrhea. He succumbed to the virus five days later while aboard the ship, with his body remaining on board until April 24 when the vessel docked in St Helena. The outbreak of hantavirus on the MV Hondius has prompted an international emergency response from global health authorities. To date, 11 cruise passengers have been infected, with three fatalities reported.#mv_hondius #ushuaia #british_tourist #mirjam_schilperoord #leo_schilperoord
Woman Isolating on British Island in South Pacific After Hantavirus Contact A woman is currently in isolation on the Pitcairn Islands, a remote British Overseas Territory in the South Pacific, following potential exposure to the hantavirus. The individual, who has not been publicly named, traveled on the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius cruise ship, which has been linked to multiple deaths and confirmed cases of the virus. A local government spokesperson confirmed that the woman had contact with a hantavirus-exposed individual but showed no symptoms of illness. The UK foreign office stated it was aware of her case and noted she was not a suspected case, with officials emphasizing the low risk to the public. The woman flew from San Francisco on May 7 and transited through Tahiti and Mangareva in French Polynesia before arriving on Pitcairn. Details about when and where she left the cruise ship and traveled to the United States remain undisclosed. The MV Hondius, which departed Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1, carried 147 passengers and crew from 23 countries. Three deaths have been confirmed among those who traveled on the ship: two were confirmed hantavirus cases, while the third developed symptoms but died before testing could be completed. The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed nine cases, with two others under suspicion. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated on Tuesday that there was "no sign" of a larger outbreak following the evacuation of the last passengers from the ship, but warned that the situation could change. Hantaviruses, typically carried by rodents, are believed to have been contracted by some passengers on the MV Hondius in South America.#world_health_organization #tedros_adhanom_ghebreyesus #mv_hondius #pitcairn_islands #british_overseas_territory
CDC Classifies Hantavirus Outbreak as 'Level 3' Emergency Response Spanish authorities on Friday prepared to receive over 140 passengers and crew members from a cruise ship infected with hantavirus, which was en route to the Canary Islands. Health officials planned to evacuate passengers to a "completely isolated, cordoned-off area" on the Spanish island of Tenerife, where the ship was expected to arrive Sunday. The Dutch-flagged vessel, MV Hondius, had been linked to at least three deaths and five confirmed infections among passengers who had disembarked before the outbreak was identified. Cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions reported no symptomatic individuals remained on board as of Thursday. The World Health Organization (WHO) stated the risk to the general public from the outbreak was low, citing a negative test result for hantavirus in a flight attendant who had briefly boarded a plane after an infected passenger disembarked. Christian Lindmeier, a WHO spokesman, emphasized the outbreak was not comparable to the COVID-19 pandemic, noting the virus is primarily spread through rodent droppings and rarely transmissible between humans. However, the Andes virus strain detected in the outbreak may pose a rare risk of person-to-person transmission. Symptoms typically appear between one and eight weeks after exposure. Health authorities across four continents were tracking more than two dozen passengers who had left the ship before the outbreak was confirmed. The first confirmed case of hantavirus in a passenger was reported on May 2, nearly two weeks after the first death onboard. Dutch officials and the cruise operator revealed that over two dozen passengers from at least 12 countries had disembarked without contact tracing on April 24, raising concerns about potential spread.#world_health_organization #cdc #mv_hondius #oceanwide_expeditions #tristan_da_cunha
Brote de hantavirus: el crucero MV Hondius llegará a España en tres días tras evacuar a contagiados en Cabo Verde Tres personas infectadas por el hantavirus, dos de ellas en estado grave, fueron evacuadas del crucero de lujo MV Hondius en Cabo Verde el miércoles 6 de mayo de 2026. La Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) confirmó que el brote ha afectado a ocho personas, de las cuales tres fallecieron a bordo del barco y un paciente crítico sigue hospitalizado en Sudáfrica. El barco, que zarpó del sur de Argentina, está previsto para llegar a Tenerife (Islas Canarias) en tres días, según el gobierno español. El Ministerio de Sanidad español anunció que todos los pasajeros asintomáticos y los ciudadanos no españoles serán repatriados a sus países de origen tras la llegada del crucero. Los 14 ciudadanos españoles a bordo serán trasladados en avión a un hospital de Madrid para cumplir con la cuarentena. La ministra de Sanidad, Mónica García, destacó que España cumple con las condiciones necesarias para garantizar la protección de la salud pública durante el desembarco. La evacuación de los pacientes contagiados comenzó el miércoles, con dos vuelos que salieron de Cabo Verde hacia los Países Bajos. La OMS informó que no se han detectado cambios en la cepa andina del hantavirus, que se encuentra en el barco, y que no hay evidencia de que la cepa sea más transmisible. El director general de la OMS, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, mantuvo el riesgo del brote en nivel bajo, aunque destacó que se está siguiendo el rastro de los pasajeros que ya desembarcaron. La investigación sobre el origen del brote apunta a una pareja neerlandesa que podría haber contraído el virus durante una excursión de observación de aves en Ushuaia, Argentina.#tedros_adhanom_ghebreyesus #organizacion_mundial_de_la_salud #mv_hondius #tenerife #monica_garcia
Somos personas, no solo noticia: el clamor de los pasajeros atrapados en el crucero afectado por el hantavirus La Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) confirmó este miércoles tres casos de hantavirus y cinco sospechosos vinculados a un brote detectado en el crucero holandés MV Hondius, que cruzaba el océano Atlántico. El buque, que partió de Ushuaia, Argentina, en la provincia de Tierra del Fuego, enfrentó una crisis sanitaria tras la muerte de tres pasajeros, lo que llevó a las autoridades de Cabo Verde a prohibir el desembarco de los viajeros. Dos miembros de la tripulación, incluido un médico, necesitaron atención urgente y fueron evacuados en un avión hospital. Una tercera persona, relacionada con uno de los fallecidos, también fue trasladada. Según la OMS, el barco tiene como destino los Países Bajos, aunque los pasajeros restantes continuarán su viaje hacia las Islas Canarias, donde se espera su llegada en tres a cuatro días. El Ministerio de Sanidad de España indicó que aún no se ha decidido el puerto de atracado, pero el gobierno español insistió en que debe aceptar el buque bajo normas sanitarias internacionales. El presidente de la comunidad autónoma de Canarias rechazó el desembarco de los pasajeros en las islas, pero el ministro Ángel Víctor Torres destacó que España está obligada a asistir a las personas afectadas, incluyendo ciudadanos españoles. La compañía Oceanwide Expeditions confirmó que su plan era navegar hacia Gran Canaria o Tenerife, con cerca de 149 personas y tripulantes bajo medidas de precaución. Aunque el ambiente a bordo parece ser bueno, los pasajeros expresan inquietud. Un vlogger, Jake Rosmarin, destacó la incertidumbre que enfrentan. La OMS sospecha que hubo transmisión del hantavirus de persona a persona, ya que algunos pasajeros compartían camarotes.#organizacion_mundial_de_la_salud #mv_hondius #ushuaia #caboverde #canarias
