One U.S. passenger tests positive for Andes hantavirus, another has mild symptoms
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said one of 17 Americans repatriated from a hantavirus-struck cruise ship tested weakly positive by PCR for Andes hantavirus. A second repatriated passenger currently has mild symptoms, and HHS said both individuals will be moved to another undisclosed location for further testing and monitoring. Andes hantavirus can cause severe respiratory failure and can transmit between people in rare cases, so the mild PCR positive and symptoms prompted immediate public health follow-up to prevent potential spread.
NEW: A passenger returning to the U.S. from that Dutch cruise ship where the hantavirus outbreak occurred has tested positive for the virus, according to HHS. A second is showing mild symptoms.
Public health says there’s no such thing as “mildly” positive. You are or you are not infectious. jesus christ rfkjr gonna kill us.
Heres a source if anyone is looking for one: www.reuters.com/business/hea...
Does this mean it’s passing between people or are there infected rodents on that ship?
Mildly symptomatic is when they are transmitting the disease. They should be in quarantine.
As they distributed them around the country. We live in the stupidest time.
Ah. Just in time for the world cup...
One, now infected, passenger left earlier on the cruise & is in my area in VA. Why have they not been quarantined? What about the people who were on that public flight home? Is our government following up on those who were in contact with this person??? 😡
And we got rfk jr what could possibly go wrong 🤨
Is mildly positive like a little bit pregnant?
. Bad news . . . Cartoon by @deadder.bsky.social ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️
I always worried about the US passengers the most, as it's the country least likely to enforce isolation or anything like that.
There's a dashboard for those keeping score at home. www.arcgis.com/apps/dashboa...
Pay attention to what the WHO is saying. The CDC has been gutted and RFK Jr. is in charge so basically, we are on our own.
Also... I think it is safe to say that the vast majority are probably infected. www.bbc.com/news/article...
If the new ballroom was in place they could be quarantined there.
In the before times, the press secretary might call a special briefing to the people … but here we are.
This feels like the start of 2020 all over again. I want off this hellacious ride. Fuck, I didn’t want on it to begin with.
Symptoms always start out mild...if this shit turns into a full blown pandemic again, maybe it's time to get rid of these damn giant ass cruise ships!
How were they not quarantined and why were they allowed to travel so quickly.
Such BS ….There is no such thing as “Mildly Positive “ Unbelievable 🤬
Don’t worry folks, a former junkie that works out in jeans and swims in sewage who collects raccoon dicks is running point on this
Can he help? Just kidding. 😆
it'll be over in a few days...🙃
Meanwhile, here in Australia our citizens being returned will be in quarantine for at least three-weeks. Wise move. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05...
And the US didn’t feel the need to quarantine anyone, and has let them circulate freely spreading the “I guarantee human transmitted” virus pell mell. Great going RFK Jr.
WHY are said passengers returning to the U.S.??? Jesus Jesus Jesus fucking fucking fucking fucking Christ Christ Christ Christ Christ Christ Christ Christ Christ!
Thank you @kylegriffin1.bsky.social for not writing “mildly positive”. Maybe other journalists can get it together!
This is the reason I have never wanted to vacation on a cruise ship. It’s a floating sewer.
Hey, that's inaccurate! - Reuters specified that the passenger was "mildly positive" for Hantavirus, which gives them a 40% chance of being mildly dead.
JFC! Here we go again!
Well you know damn well Trump has a team of misfits brainstorming on how they can pin this on President Biden and or Kamala 🙃
"Pretty soon, the number will be zero..."
The only positive about this whole situation is this version of hanta is much much harder to transmit person to person than the common cold/flu/covid so there's a least that.
and they didn't think it necessary to contact trace the people on the planes with them. 👀
I can’t believe we are here again.
There has to be a correlation between Trump and the plague. Is anyone looking?
incubation could take up to 40 days... just sayin'
Here we go again. Masks, hand sanitizer, distancing, Trump... ... where my 900 rolls of toilet paper from Target?
Too bad TACO fired so many CDC employees.
Let’s pray that they are isolated, treated and it goes no further.
RFK jr will make sure they don’t need to mask 😷 up.
Were the flight(s) to the US charter flights or were these people exposed to others? Hantavirus may be rare, so are passengers who wear masks.
And where is the CDC? Oh, I forgot the Trump regime killed it.
Trump is replaying his greatest hits
Well, if anyone can cause a pandemic it’s brain worm guy. Maybe they can have these 2 passengers visit the WH to let them know about their experience. Please see if you can get them visitor passes so they can meet with the imbecile in the WH ASAP! 🤞🤞🤞
I refuse to do this again.
Why are they testing? All it will do is cause more cases... /s
Here we go again! And we have that F’ing loser in office like when Covid took off.
Trump recommend bleach treatment yet ?
I think I’ve already seen this movie.
"Mildly positive" for hantavirus. Yeah. Like the time my girlfriend got a little bit pregnant.
Look, even this level of idiocy is not reason to panic. It just reemphasizes the point here:
The powers that be also have neglected to mention that a bunch of people have already disembarked, and are currently in the US…
Doesn't it have like a 40% mortality rate?
Positive or not. There is no mild.
I can’t believe this is official language? What are they thinking?
it’s just a little zombie bite
Sigh. Not great but not ready to freak out yet. “Mildly positive” is an asinine take. Did they mean mild symptoms?
Most Americans will swallow it whole. Our foundational science education is nonexistent.
The PCR aids identification through amplification of specific DNA/RNA sequences. So they either found the sequence or not. Unless they mean the symptoms are mild then this is one of those 'almost unique' euphemisms that gives plausible deniability.
high Ct value? It's unclear to me.
"one travellers suitcases were entirely filled with rats but he said they were service animals"
I do not care if it's a faint band on the gel, a positive result is a positive result.
I don't think people know how bad this is and, if the ease of transmission is to be believed as being other than prolonged close contact, how mindbogglingly bad this can be. Hanta is not a nice way to go, and it can morph into a kind of hemorrhagic fever, which is even worse.
⚠️ HANTAVIRUS UPDATE: WHO changed its classification of high-risk contact to include EVERYONE on board the ship. Previously, it was limited to those with known “prolonged close contact” with an infected person. Additionally, more people from the ship have become symptomatic and/or tested positive.
The US is repatriating citizens from the ship to Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Centers. Out of the 17 Americans, one is symptomatic for hantavirus and another has tested positive—so far.
This is WONDERFUL. What could go wrong-Good thing we all learned our lessons & made every business & school up the air filtration to HEPA since we all know relying on people to do the right thing is a losing game. We'd have been real stupid not to do that everywhere after that-Good thing we learned!
What this makes me realize is that they have no fucking clue about its transmission.
Andes Hantavirus appears to be more contagious than intimate contact only.
Cruise ships are glorified petri dishes.
Seems to contradict their statement last Thursday quoted by the BBC today.. bsky.app/profile/paul...
American passengers from the hantavirus-stricken MV Hondius are being cared for in Nebraska and Atlanta as health officials decide how to move forward.
They’ve already fckd us. The US can’t be trusted to handle any sort of health issues let alone a global virus. Thanks RFK.
Health officials trying to decide how to move forward? If they didn’t want to reinvent the wheel every time, they should already have a playbook based on historical events and data with a predetermined response. They may not always have the benefit of time to draw up a new plan.
Sure send infected people to multiple states what could go wrong?
Some. Some American passengers. The headlines makes it sound like everyone who touched the boat is in quarantine. That’s just not true.
We’re completely screwed if this thing becomes another pandemic especially since they gutted the cdc and left the WHO.
I’m pretty confident America is in good hands when the guy who said to drink bleach to kill Covid is President and the crackhead who snorted cocaine on toilet bowls is health secretary. 😁😁
Don't worry. I am sure the Christians will pray it away like they did COVID.
Just thinking how that movie, The Andromeda Strain, was so good!
Start by guaranteeing Nebraska and have the WHO in to monitor. The fascists tired all our qualified scientists and doctors.
What officials?!?! We have a bunch of unqualified kooks running everything!!! They’ll be giving people ivermectin and rubbing them with cow dung as a remedy. 🤦♂️ #IdiotsRunThisCountry
Was on board a ship the perfect quarantine then you spread them around the world is it's Gates plane
Is “ mildly positive “ like almost pregnant?
I'm sure an infra red lamp shoved up their rectum will be sufficient for the administration.
Good luck to Nebraska. Stay safe and wear masks until the rest of the world figures out what is and how to fight this virus (as it seems that your gov will most probably get you killed)
BREAKING: One of the 17 American passengers evacuated from a cruise ship in the Canary Islands has tested positive for the hantavirus but is not showing any symptoms, U.S. health officials said.
Is not showing any symptoms *so far*
With RFK jr in charge, what could possibly go wrong?
Hope they are being quarantined.
HANTAVIRUS: US govt is refusing to act as a federal govt, US media are complicit. This virus is a serious risk. Le Monde says that 5 French cruise pax are hospitalized in Paris. The French federal govt is managing their quarantine by decree. They must quarantine for 42 days.
A scenario: Deadly Andean Hantavirus starts spreading in the US, castrated CDC is helpless to stop it, RFK says no to masks and social distancing. Christians say its punishment from god against the lgbt. In June, millions gather to watch d USA Fifa World Cup. A new pandemic is born
Prolly no need to quarantine him or the other passengers…
It's only a matter of time.
“The Americans would first be flown to the University of Nebraska, which has a federally funded quarantine facility”
Cruise ships really are basically petri dishes.
NEVER underestimate this administration's ability to mismanage an outbreak.
So passengers on this cruise ship are exposed to a disease caused by rodent feces, urine, or saliva. Charming. The cruise ship in the Caribbean exposed its passengers to norovirus, spread by fecal-oral route. Again, charming.
The WHO calls everyone on board the MV Hondius cruise ship "high-risk" contacts. WHO official Maria Van Kerkhove said everyone on board would need active monitoring for 42 days after leaving the ship while health authorities work to contain the outbreak. Source: www.globaltimes.cn/page/202605/...
I just heard on the German news that some returnees are asked to isolate at home. This is unmonitored & relies on their cooperation. After our experience with the pandemic, what can possibly go wrong...
I also saw a report that a person can transmit infection prior to displaying symptoms towards the end of this. www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/infectiou...
WHO, they still aren't saying it's airbourne transferable. They say you need extended contact with someone infected. Haven't WHO learnt, haven't world governments learnt. 🤷
Good luck with “active monitoring”.
Hopefully the WHO is getting involved with monitoring the passengers of the St Helena to Johannesburg flight. aerospaceglobalnews.com/news/airlink... I’d sure as shit be isolating myself (and I wear an N95 when traveling) if I had been on that plane.
Maria finally woke up. One pandemic disaster about to become two.
Remember when Americans had meltdowns because we were told to wear masks?
Horse has bolted. WHO had a small opportunity to redeem themselves post covid airborne debacle and before the disembarkation this time around but have shown they are still not serious.
Would really like a definition of "active monitoring." And then I'd like to know how "monitoring" helps mitigate the risk of spread, while we figure out what it takes for this version of this virus to spread.
One US citizen tests mildly positive for hantavirus, another has mild symptoms reut.rs/4u8qd1e
It’s not a binary diagnosis? What does testing “mildly” positive entail?
What the fuck does mildly positive mean?
A PCR test is positive or negative. These people are either incompetent or lying.
"Mild", with a high case fatality rate (CFR), estimated between 25% and 50%. Okay then.
It's a dichotomy FFS. Mildly pregnant? Mildly dead? Come on Reuters you're better than this.
This kinda how COVID started. Remember?
Youre getting mildly dragged for "mildly positive" and frankly it should be significantly more
"Mildly positive?!" The fuck does "mildly positive" mean?! There is positive and there is negative. There is no in-between. You either have it or you don't.
google, show me a long term consequence of american media downplaying a pandemic…
“Tested mildly positive for hantavirus,” is that like light treason?
When a test is either positive or negative there is NO mildly positive. This is shite journalism
the fuck is "mildly positive"
Is this based on a spicyness scale?
“mildly positive” is quite Python-esque!
Sidedar: How many were *mildly* pregnant?
The "mild positive" test should, more properly, be designated "inconclusive". That can happen with PCR tests for a variety of reasons. Next steps would include re-resting to be sure that low viral load due to testing too early isn't the cause. shcs.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/file...
Only positive in the mornings from 9 untill 11?
"Mildly positive"? How is that possible? Positive/negative is a binary diagnosis. It's not like it's on a scale or spectrum, such as saying someone is "a little drunk" or "slightly nauseous". It's one or the other. In this case, it's positive. Don't manipulate words to control the narrative.
Did you really say “mildly positive?” Is that like “mildly pregnant?” Stop being stenographers.
They have the fucking disease or not you god damn fucking idiots. There is no mild fuck you...only FUCK YOU!
They need to be put into Quarantine until they find a way to stop the spread.
"Testing mildly" is not a thing. Stop it. Hantavirus is not mild. It has a 40% fatality rate.
AI writing the headlines? "Mildly positive "
Is mildly positive like being a little bit pregnant?
🧵 Important to consider: bsky.app/profile/jvip...
If it’s only mild, it doesn’t count, right?
So the money must go towards to suing the ship company
BUCKLE UP BUTTERCUPS!! ANOTHER PANDEMIC ON THE WAY AND I'LL GIVE YOU ONE GUESS WHO'S IN OFFICE AGAIN. I WONDER WHAT THE DEATH TOLL WILL BE THIS TIME? 🤔😷🤧
Hantavirus update as of May 11: The risk to the general public remains very low. Reminder, hantavirus is not a new virus. Passengers aboard the MV Hondius have been/are being repatriated. They are being taken to a facility in Nebraska that has the capacity to isolate any symptomatic passengers.
Asymptomatic passengers can quarantine at that facility, or at locations designated by their home health depts. MV Hondius passengers are being considered high-risk for developing hantavirus b/c they were in close contact with confirmed cases for long periods of time (this is the nature of 🚢).
I have confidence in RFK Jr. I’m confident he will find a way to hamper professionals and fuck this up.
She has a great breakdown here: bsky.app/profile/ylep...
Anyone, know what a "mildly positive" PCR result means? I'm guessing they mean that the Ct value is high, but who knows?
Honestly given who's running the show I don't even trust their comms team to interpret Ct values
So weird to call it a "mild" positive instead of the more common "weak" positive. "Mild" doesn't really mean anything in this context.
That's uh... that's now how qualitative detection thresholds work.
It's a woman, and she's just a little bit pregnant
Just one virus particle was detected.
Maybe more a reflection of the usual crap CDC PCR assay if track record is anything to go my!
“Idk guys it was a faint line on the test, so they’re like, only kinda positive?”
JFC Did it take 30 cycles to see a signal? lol
My thought its like when you're at the end of COVID and you're testing for negative and there is one pale line. Perhaps s/he has the virus but it's weakened? Who freaking knows...HHS asshat secretary controls every word that comes out of CDC, and usually he's wrong 🤬
French PM has announced one of the five citizens of his country that were evacuated from MV Hondius cruise is with hantavirus symptoms. The drip is starting, so much for a "very difficult" to transmit virus, isn't it?
The hubris of humans is truly astounding
Here in the US, one of the cable news shows had on a physician who read the science (!) and reported fully, honestly, and accurately about the virus, this outbreak, and how it should be handled. It was refreshing to see a knowledgeable, competent professional delivering accurate information.
He said it is airborne and does not require "close, prolonged" contact, and he cited two studies that prove that. He said the main concern is to prevent spread from quarantined individuals to household members, and he discussed ventilation, but did not mention respirators.