With the recent developments in the spread of a viral rodent-transmitted disease called Hantavirus on a cruise ship, which left three passengers dead and others sick, parallels point to the origin of the COVID-19 outbreak. However, global health officials have painted the risk to the public as low due to the disease not spreading easily between people unless prolonged contact occurs. Hantavirus differs from COVID as the 2020 pandemic spread faster and more easily among human hosts, even those who were asymptomatic making the outbreak harder to contain.
The virus is usually transmitted through the inhalation of residue of rodent droppings but this particular strand, called the Andes virus, is able to spread between people in cases. This has led to officials monitoring those released from the cruise ship to their home countries.
Although at this point, health officials say Hantavirus cannot be contracted as an airborne disease, due to research on viral disease outbreaks, we know strands are able to morph to target certain parts of the human immune system meaning the disease could eventually become airborne in nature. “This is not the next COVID, but it is a serious infectious disease,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness at the World Health Organization. “Most people will never be exposed to this.”
Hantavirus also isn’t a new phenomenon as it has existed for centuries and is thought to be present throughout the world. Data from the World Health Organization reported that in 2025, eight countries within the Americas had 229 documented cases and 59 deaths. Argentinian health officials reported that there were 28 deaths nationwide of the virus. A worrying sight however, is the fact that on Tuesday, the health ministry reported 101 infections since June 2025, double the caseload recorded over the previous year.
As investigations are ongoing regarding the outbreak’s origin, investigators in Argentina speculate the cases came from the southern tip of the country during a birdwatching excursion. According to what scientists already know about the disease, people are more prone to contracting Hantavirus in indoor, enclosed spaces with little ventilation providing an explanation on how the outbreak occurred on the cruise ship.
The way in which the infection starts is similar to the flu and can rapidly progress to become life-threatening. Early symptoms include fever, chills, muscle aches and headaches potentially progressing to Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which will typically show between one to eight weeks after exposure to an infected rodent or subject. Symptoms include tightness in the chest as lungs fill with fluid. This strand is fatal in about 35% of those affected according to data from AP News although the Mayo Clinic marks those figures as anywhere from 30-60%.
President Donald Trump has already said the disease is nothing to be concerned about as in an Oval Office press briefing. “I hope it’s fine. All I can do is everything that a president can do, which is something — which is actually somewhat limited,”. Due to the incompetence of public health officials in the Trump administration, paired with the termination of many Center for Disease Control (CDC) officials, people may have an excuse to be wary. In addition, the administration recently eliminated the CDC’s Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC), a 30-year advisory panel which helped to create guidelines on the prevention of infections nationwide.
