AkaSci 🛰️May 11

"17 Americans aboard MV Hondius will be flown to the U.S. — with a first stop in Nebraska, home of the highly specialized National Quarantine Unit.

The CDC is not considering this a quarantine, but rather a brief visit to monitor their health.

The passengers will be checked for symptoms, but not tested for hantavirus, as testing is not recommended for those without symptoms, according to a CDC official."
🤔

https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/10/us/hantavirus-cruise-passengers-nebraska-facility
#Health
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Show threadAkaSci 🛰️May 11

"The hantavirus outbreak was first reported to the WHO on May 2 and remains a low risk to the general public, the org. says.

Hantavirus typically spreads to humans through contact with rodent urine or droppings, though this strain, the Andes virus, can in rare cases spread person-to-person through very close, prolonged contact with an infected person.

The CDC has classified its hantavirus response as Level 3, the agency’s lowest level of emergency."

https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/10/us/hantavirus-cruise-passengers-nebraska-facility
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American passengers from hantavirus-hit cruise ship to stop at Nebraska facility before heading home. Here’s what we know

American passengers of the cruise ship at the center of the hantavirus outbreak will fly home and be assessed at a highly specialized medical facility in Nebraska

CNN
Show threadAkaSci 🛰️

Statement from the International Hantavirus Society and members of the international hantavirus research and clinical community regarding the current Andes virus outbreak investigation -

- Andes virus differs from other hantaviruses

- Rare disease incidence does not imply absent transmission potential

- Current evidence does not suggest a highly transmissible pandemic scenario

- Current evidence does not support describing Andes virus as ‘barely transmissible'

https://zenodo.org/records/20112944
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May 11 at 2:11amWeb
Show threadAkaSci 🛰️May 11

"A French woman and an American national evacuated from the cruise ship at the centre of a deadly hantavirus outbreak have tested positive for the virus.

The French woman is in serious condition.

The American passenger who was flown to Nebraska along with 16 others on Sunday evening tested positive but had no symptoms."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/11/evacuated-us-and-french-mv-hondius-cruise-ship-passengers-test-positive-for-hantavirus
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Show threadAkaSci 🛰️May 11

For those who understand cell biology and genomics better, here are some references on the hantavirus.

The natural reservoir for Hantaviruses are rodents. Typically, a rodent species carries one hantavirus species.

The New World hantaviruses cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) whose fatality rate is 30–60%.

Like most viruses, these evolve via mutations, recombinations and reassortments, some across species.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/43073318_A_Global_Perspective_on_Hantavirus_Ecology_Epidemiology_and_Disease
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2015.01326/full
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthohantavirus
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Show threadAkaSci 🛰️May 11

Preliminary analysis of virus sequences -

“Across all 3 hantavirus genome segments, the closest relatives are consistent with one another, which suggests the virus has not undergone reassortment which is a process where segmented viruses exchange genome segments with another strain, potentially creating a novel variant.

The outbreak virus likely emerged from a single, relatively stable viral lineage."

https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-first-complete-sequence-of-the-hantavirus-from-the-current-cluster-from-mv-hondius-from-the-swiss-patient-with-confirmed-andes-strain-uploaded-to-the-virological-org-platform-by-t/
https://virological.org/t/preliminary-analysis-of-orthohantavirus-andesense-virus-sequences-from-a-cruise-ship-related-cluster-may-2026/1029

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Show threadAkaSci 🛰️May 11

m/v Hondius is a luxury ship for expedition and exploratory cruising in the polar regions. Passengers get to experience exotic landscapes and wildlife up close.

Which means exposure to wildlife and the pathogens they carry.

There are rumors that a passenger may have been infected at a landfill site on the outskirts of town of Ushuaia, where the cruise started and where waste attracts rats and mice. Locals vehemently deny the possibility.

https://oceanwide-expeditions.com/our-fleet/m-v-hondius
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx21ej471g2o
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Show threadAkaSci 🛰️May 11

Of the 18 passengers transported to the U.S., two Georgia residents landed in Atlanta and have been taken to Emory University Hospital, while the other 16 are now in Nebraska.

One of the two Georgia residents was experiencing symptoms but tested negative.

Both the CDC and WHO have indicated that, unlike COVID-19, the risk of the hantavirus spreading among the population is very small, esp. with isolation protocols in place.

https://www.cbsnews.com/atlanta/news/hantavirus-outbreak-2-georgia-residents-exposed-arrive-at-emory-university-hospital-for-evaluation/
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Hantavirus outbreak: 2 Georgia residents exposed arrive at Emory University Hospital for evaluation

Two Georgia residents believed to have been exposed to hantavirus arrived in Atlanta on Monday and were taken to Emory University Hospital after being transported through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, federal health officials confirmed.

Show threadAkaSci 🛰️May 12

Prof. Joseph Allen has been providing insights and cautionary messages that the CDC won't.

"In the hantavirus outbreak in Argentina in 2018-2019, the virus spread human-to-human, in 4 waves, some without close contact.

This outbreak is not likely to spark a pandemic, mostly because the hantavirus is less contagious than influenza, measles and SARS-CoV-2. Thankfully, despite the flawed messaging, the system is broadly working .."

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/05/hantavirus-outbreak-cruise-ship/687140/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
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A Foundational Myth About Hantavirus

Knowing how a virus spreads is essential to public health, but people keep getting it wrong.

The Atlantic
Show threadAkaSci 🛰️May 12

Prof. Joseph Allen:

"Public-health officials have to be more honest and more humble about how this virus actually spreads.

An essential lesson from COVID is that officials should be candid about communicating that we are often learning in real time, and we should shy away from making bold pronouncements that may prove dangerously misleading weeks or months later.

If people mistakenly believe transmission relies only on prolonged close contact, they may take risks they will soon regret."

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Show threadAkaSci 🛰️May 12

Dr. Paul E. Sax (Harvard/Brigham, Infectious Diseases):

What worries me most is not necessarily the outbreak itself; there is every reason to think it can ultimately be contained.

My worries -

1. The relative absence of a clear, trusted public health voice from the U.S. articulating what is happening, what is being investigated, and what remains uncertain.

2. The recurring temptation to reassure or alarm prematurely while an investigation is still unfolding.

https://voices.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/VOICESpost2600014
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Show threadAbraham Samma🔬🔭 🇦🇺🇹🇿May 11

@AkaSci if I had a shilling for every denial of scientific evidence driven by nationalistic pride...

But then again, after a second look, it seems the picture on the gound might be more complicated. Tracing this back to a source is gonna be key.

Show threadJean-François MezeiMay 12

@AkaSci I would dismiss that rumour of origin until it is proven. the origin couple had been to many places prior and when you consider incubation period, their visit to the dump to watch birds is awfully close to departure and onset of symptoms. It is not ruled out that it was it.

Having the gene sequence from the wife and subsequent infections, they can test rats at that bird watching dump to see if it matches or trace back to other places the couple visited.

Show threadEwen Bell 📸May 11
@AkaSci

Diagrams like this are why I had to get out of biochemistry!
Show threadF4GRX SébastienMay 11
@AkaSci we're probably fucked again. But this time, we have a trump CDC...