In this photo, hantavirus samples are seen in Ankara, Turkey on May 6, 2026.
Arman Onal | Anadolu | Getty Images
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday there are no cases of hantavirus in the country as it monitors 41 people across the United States for the virus.
The agency said the risk to the general public remains low following an outbreak on a cruise ship. The CDC advised those being monitored to stay home and avoid people for 42 days.
That includes people in three main groups: passengers who were recently repatriated and are now in Nebraska and Atlanta, passengers who had already left the ship and returned home before the outbreak was identified, and people who may have been exposed during travel, “especially on flights where a symptomatic case was present,” Dr. David Fitter, incident manager for the CDC’s hantavirus response, told reporters at a press briefing.
The World Health Organization has reported 11 total cases of hantavirus linked to the outbreak, including eight confirmed by laboratory tests, including three deaths.
The spread of the virus has sparked concerns about a potential global health crisis just years after the devastation of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, public health experts have stressed that the risks from the outbreak are limited and cautioned that it is unlikely to cause a widespread health emergency.
The Andean strain of hantavirus associated with the outbreak, unlike other illnesses like Covid, measles and flu, does not spread easily between people.
However, more confirmed cases could emerge in the coming weeks due to the long incubation period, experts say.
Some public health experts said the U.S. response to the spread of hantavirus, slowed by staff cuts at the CDC and the Trump administration’s decision to leave the WHO, exposed cracks in its preparedness to handle another health crisis.