Three die after suspected hantavirus outbreak on Atlantic cruise ship
Three passengers died aboard an Atlantic cruise ship after a suspected hantavirus outbreak, and the World Health Organization confirmed one hantavirus infection with five additional suspected cases under investigation. Hantaviruses spread through exposure to infected rodent urine or droppings and can cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a severe respiratory disease that can rapidly progress to respiratory failure. The ship remains at sea while the World Health Organization coordinates testing and response with local health authorities. This matters because limited onboard medical capacity can complicate containment, evacuation, and care for other passengers and crew.
(AFP) - Three people have died on a cruise ship in the Atlantic, the WHO said Sunday, one a confirmed case of hantavirus -- an illness usually transmitted to humans from rodents. www.yahoo.com/news/article...
DennisIsOk🇺🇸55You'll never catch me in a steel can in the middle of the ocean with 5000 other people
Helena17In all fairness, this is not the cruise ship most people replying to this thread are imagining: oceanwide-expeditions.com/our-fleet/
minutesdrag.bsky.social15Proud to say I’ve never been on a cruise ship and sure as shit won’t in the future.
MartinC11I remain baffled why anyone goes on these cruise ships period.
Dona Dickinson9Yikes! Wish we had a functioning CDC.
wscottyj.bsky.social7That and motion sickness is why I don't do cruises...and the 3000-5000 crammed in like sardines.
dear Abbie6whoa, usually in dry locals (California, Arizona, NM)....that's nuts!
4jim5So cruise ships aren't just floating diarrhea factories. One more reason to stay off of them. They are also viral loaded mouse piss factories.
Jes 👊🇺🇸🔥 ([email protected])5This is the actual nightmare.
Jeni McCoy5That’s a horror story not a vacation.
Birdergal 💙💛🌊4Origin Argentina. I actually know of someone who died of hantavirus in Argentina. Maybe it’s more prevalent there?
tejaskr.bsky.social4Lol so funny. dying by rat in an ocean is the funniest way to go
🥒🐸🌮🦋 Anemia B4A floating petri dish. Ew.
Jubilado05053“The outbreak occurred on the MV Hondius, travelling from Ushuaia in Argentina to Cape Verde.”
SuzyPatty3Guess this wasn't a good idea by our brainwormed HHS leader: As of April 2025, the Trump administration and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) cut staff for the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP)
ElJayVee 🇨🇦🇺🇦🌻2Did someone forget to board the cats?
I was in ha-ha cruise ship illness mode but three people are apparently dead to hantavirus?
Stephen Nuñez74It's a smaller ship (150 passengers). 3 dead and 3 more infected. Left out of Argentina and is now in South Africa
Cao Cao Power Hour Enthusiast63I like the people in the replies who apparently don’t know more people get hantavirus from garages in the SW than have ever gotten it on a tiny cruise ship for extremely rich people lol
reading through the darkness31It's a very scary disease with a high fatality rate and I can't imagine being stuck on a cruise ship where it's going around. My "no cruises, never" policy is feeling like a really solid life choice right now.
henhulks.bsky.social30Isn’t hantavirus what killed Gene Hackman’s wife?
missingjigsaw.bsky.social18Last time cruise ship illness made the news in a big way was also not a very ha-ha moment.
Haydon15Yeah so just keep it in the ocean but further then
Winnie Frolik14Yeah I'm not confident about our ability to handle disease epidemics right now
darkwebmallcop.bsky.social11That must be one rat infested ship
Matthew Buckley10It's all fun and games until RFK Jr orders samples to be disbursed through the air conditioning system of every hospital in America.
Think again Bruce8A woman I knew in her 80s contracted that from mucking out a horse stall. Inhaled rodent infected dust as she described. Spent the last couple years of her life carrying around an oxygen tank
Pamela Fiore... and live alone in the bee-loud glade5Ever read “The Dead Zone”? 😳😱
Joe Vilas4I'm thinking they, or at least the first ones, were probably infected before they got on the boat, given the incubation time.
Graham Cummins4Hantavirus is no joke, but weird to see it on a boat.
Mike (beep boop era)3Jfc hantavirus is scary as hell. Someone in town (when I lived in NM) got it cleaning out a shed and it was Very Very Bad
Pamela Fiore... and live alone in the bee-loud glade3@wisewonders.bsky.social rot roh… about that mouse in your house 🫨
green496.bsky.social3Boy, looking forward to the epidemiological report about the rodent infestation on the ship!
the gentlemanly drinker3hantavirus? what did it leave port in Arizona or New Mexico?
🌻 PlentyNuff 🌻2The only positive thing to be said for hantavirus is that it gives me a superficially acceptable excuse to hate on mice (who I already hated for petty reasons anyway). And the only positive thing to be said for floating petri-dish vacations, aka cruises, is... well, no. There is no positive thing.
Think again Bruce2Orthohantavirus is a genus of viruses that includes all hantaviruses (family Hantaviridae) that cause disease in humans, but are not spread by humans. Rats
Tredain, fluffy one2Oh that is a baaaad way to die
Yvonne2OMG, MALONE....I WENT ON A CRUISE 1 YEAR AGO! I WAS SICK FOR 3 MONTHS. MY DR. FINALLY RAN THE PROPER TEST. I CAME BACK POS. FOR E-COLI! IT TAKES 31 DAYS FOR YOU TO REALIZE SOMETHING HAS MADE YOU SICK. BUT IT TOOK ANOTHER 2 MONTHS TO GET THE RIGHT TEST DONE. IT WAS BRUTAL! I PRAY YOU ARE OKAY🙏
As of May 3, 2026, the World Health Organization (WHO) is investigating a suspected hantavirus outbreak on the cruise ship MV Hondius in the Atlantic Ocean, which has resulted in three deaths. One case is laboratory-confirmed, with five additional suspected cases among passengers and crew.
Hope.12We obviously did not have enough to worry about…
Shellie7Why are people still doing cruises?
Stephie5That's damn scary.. Google says it's not usually spread person to person.. so that makes this even more concerning.
Elle3Oh geez. That’s not at all great.
Fdell3My cousin is on that ship. But he’s fine for now.
Clay2I serviced cruise ships (navigation systems and other stuff, radar, etc) for 15 years. Undoubtedly the nastiest floating petri dishes you can imagine. All the shining plushness is smoke and mirrors. Sub-par food. Very expensive drinks (and there's nothing else to do except get drunk).
Hantaviruses are usually spread by exposure to urine, saliva or feces from infected rodents, such as rats or mice. Hantavirus infections are rare but can cause deadly respiratory infections. n.pr/3QQ4JaE
Peter Sealy Art & Photography6So, did the outbreak come from a passenger who was already infected, or from an infected rat on the ship…? (Either way, I’m still *never* going on the cruise ship!)
Vivacia4Guess who probably never checks their vents for rodents...
Mark Johnson2Floating petri dishes. Ban them. 🤢🤮
