CDC says there are no U.S. hantavirus cases currently, 41 people being monitored
In this photo, Hantavirus samples are seen in Ankara on May 6, 2026.
Arman Önal | Anatolia | Getty Images
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there were no cases of hantavirus in the country as of Thursday and that it was monitoring 41 people across the U.S. for the virus.
The agency said the risk to the general public remains low following an outbreak on a cruise ship. The CDC advised people being monitored to stay home and stay away from people for 42 days.
CDC’s hantavirus response incident manager, Dr. They include people from three main groups: passengers who were recently repatriated and are now in Nebraska and Atlanta, passengers who abandoned the ship and returned home before the outbreak was detected, and people who may have been exposed to the virus during travel “particularly on flights where a symptomatic case was present,” David Fitter told reporters at a media briefing.
The World Health Organization reported A total of 11 hantavirus cases linked to the outbreak have been confirmed by laboratory testing, eight of which have included three deaths.
The spread of the virus has raised concerns about a potential global health crisis just a few years after the devastation of the Covid-19 pandemic. But public health experts emphasized that the risks from the outbreak were limited and warned that the outbreak would not likely cause a widespread health emergency.
The Andean hantavirus strain associated with the outbreak does not spread easily between people, unlike other diseases such as Covid, measles and flu.
However, according to experts, since the incubation period is long, more confirmed cases may emerge in the coming weeks.
The U.S. response to the spread of hantavirus has been slowed by staff cuts at the CDC and the Trump administration’s decision to leave the WHO, some public health experts said, revealing cracks in the U.S.’s readiness to deal with another health crisis.
