With the haunting thoughts of COVID still on the minds of many of us, the recent outbreak of a rare rodent-borne illness called hantavirus has many concerns. The current hantavirus outbreak itself is serious but limited. Eight cases have been linked to a cruise ship called the MV Hondius. So far, three of the cases have been fatal. According to Dr. Tyler Evans (Founder/CEO of Wellness Equity Alliance) the Hondius left from Ushuaia, in Argentine Patagonia, which is squarely within that virus’s range. That geography matters. It is the most plausible explanation for what we are seeing, and it is also the reason this outbreak should not cause panic among people who have no connection to that part of the world. The strain involved, Andes hantavirus, which is the only hantavirus known to spread person to person, but it generally requires prolonged close contact.

Hantavirus Is Nothing Like Coronavirus

Experts from the World Health Organization have said they expect spread of a deadly and rare hantavirus variant to be “limited” and are insisting a cruise ship outbreak that has killed three people is “not the start of a pandemic”. Detailed investigations of the cruise ship outbreak are ongoing, notably determining its source. Dr. Evans explains that hantavirus is not a typical cruise ship pathogen. Unlike Norovirus or respiratory viruses that move easily between passengers, hantaviruses are primarily spread through contact with the urine, droppings, or saliva of infected rodents. With one important exception. The Andes virus, which circulates in Chile and Argentina, is the only hantavirus documented to transmit from person to person, and it is rare. The Hondius story is tragic, but it is also a useful reminder that preparedness is not just a problem for the cruise industry. It is a problem for any system that moves people through environments where novel pathogens live Evans adds.

Hantavirus Is Nothing Like Coronavirus, but It’s Bringing Some ‘Covid P.T.S.D.’ Health experts, aware of the scars Covid left on people, including those who are still dealing with it, have sought to dispel comparisons between hantavirus and coronavirus. They said this week that the viruses spread quite differently and were not close in magnitude.

How do you get hantavirus?

While rare, hantaviruses are a genus of viruses primarily transmitted from rodents to humans. Only one strain, known as Andes virus, has been documented to potentially spread from person to person, although such transmission is rare and typically requires close contact.

“There is no concrete evidence that there is human-to-human transmission for most hantaviruses,” said Safder Ganaie, Ph.D., an assistant professor of molecular genetics and microbiology in the University of Florida College of Medicine and a member of the UF Emerging Pathogens Institute.

“This is not the next COVID, but it is a serious infectious disease,” Maria Van Kerkhove, director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness at the World Health Organization, told The Associated Press. “Most people will never be exposed to this.” Hantavirus infections are relatively uncommon globally. In 2025, eight countries within the Americas had documented 229 cases and 59 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.

How worried should we be about this outbreak?

This outbreak is serious, but it’s unlikely to pose a broad public threat. Human-to-human spread of hantavirus is rare and typically requires very close contact. We know that there is genetic diversity within hantavirus—for example, although the Andes strain can be transmitted from person to person, most hantaviruses are unlikely to. We need to track where and when hantaviruses are circulating in different species that share our environments.

Most of the public attention to cruise ship outbreaks has focused on the megaships, large vessels with thousands of passengers, sophisticated medical facilities, and the ability to reach a major port within hours. Evans explains that the Hondius is a different category of vessel. It is a small expedition ship operating in some of the most remote waters on Earth, with one doctor on board and stops at islands like St Helena and Ascension that have minimal medical infrastructure. These “Expedition Cruises” offer unique issues.

If you are considering experiencing an expedition cruise, here are five questions every traveler should ask before booking your cruise.

1. What can the onboard physician actually treat, and what would require evacuation?
2. How long would an evacuation take from each leg of the itinerary?
3. Does the ship have onboard diagnostic testing?
4. Does my insurance cover an air ambulance from a remote location, in writing?
5. And given my own health, is this trip something my doctor would recommend?

Expedition cruises are the fastest-growing sector of the cruise industry, which combines exploration and adventure in off-the-beaten-path places aboard ships designed to sail in some of the remotest places on the globe. But before booking your cruise ask the appropriate questions to ensure it works for you.