First, what is a Hantavirus?

Hantaviruses are a group of viruses that is spread by rodents that cause severe respiratory disease or kidney disease. They can spread to people through urine, saliva, or droppings from an infected rat. Spread from person to person is not super common and usually involves prolonged close contact.

What is the situation?

A cruise ship left the port in Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1, 2026. The vessel carried a total of 147 individuals, including 88 passengers and 59 crew members. On April 6, a passenger reported fever, headache, and mild diarrhea. By April 11, the passenger developed severe respiratory problems and died the same day on board. On April 24, the body was transported to Saint Helena (a British overseas territory).

On April 24, another passenger, who was in close contact with the first case, went ashore at Saint Helena on with gastrointestinal symptoms. She subsequently deteriorated during a flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, on April 25. This passenger later died upon arrival at the emergency department on April 26. On May 4, the case was subsequently confirmed by PCR with hantavirus infection.

Another passenger presented to the ship's doctor on 24 April 2026 with febrile illness, shortness of breath and signs of pneumonia. On 26 April, their condition worsened. He was medically evacuated from Ascension to South Africa on 27 April, where they are currently hospitalised in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Laboratory testing on an extensive respiratory pathogen panel was negative; however, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing confirmed hantavirus infection on 2 May 2026.

So far there have been three deaths and seven cases (two confirmed, five suspected) have been reported.

Is this going to be the next pandemic?

Most likely, no. Even with this specific variant spreading from person to person, this disease is not well suited to cause a pandemic level outbreak due to the low level of transmission. This is a terrible outbreak, and people in affected areas should listen to their local health authorities for specific instructions to stay safe, but there is a very low chance of this going global.

If you have any specific questions, I will try to answer new asks in my inbox regarding the situation but please check with WHO for more information.

Edit: People have validly pointed out that I didn’t cite my sources so I am linking them below