CDC Ends Hantavirus Response Following Cruise Ship Outbreak That Killed Three

Jun 24, 2026

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded its response to a hantavirus outbreak aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius on June 24, 2026. The outbreak, caused by the rare Andes virus strain, killed three people. All 18 U.S. passengers completed a 42-day monitoring period with no domestic cases reported. While the Andes virus can spread via human-to-human contact, the CDC maintains the public risk is extremely low. Investigations into the outbreak's origins in Argentina are ongoing.

CDC hantavirus response conclusion

▪All 18 U.S.-resident passengers from the MV Hondius returned to their home states after completing monitoring at the National Quarantine Unit.
▪The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention formally ended its hantavirus response on June 24, 2026.
▪All U.S. citizens potentially exposed to hantavirus aboard the MV Hondius completed their 42-day monitoring period on June 21, 2026, with no cases reported in the United States.

MV Hondius cruise ship outbreak

▪An outbreak of Andes virus aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius in the Atlantic Ocean killed three people and infected several others.
▪The MV Hondius cruise ship departed from Argentina on April 1, 2026.

Andes virus human transmission

▪The Andes virus is a rare hantavirus strain that typically circulates in Argentina and Chile and is the only known hantavirus capable of spreading through close, prolonged human-to-human contact.
▪The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that the risk to the United States public from the Andes virus remains extremely low.

Hantavirus rodent transmission methods

▪Hantavirus can infect humans when the virus becomes airborne, which often occurs during the cleaning of rodent-infested areas.
▪Hantavirus spreads primarily through rodents, infecting humans via contact with rats, mice, or their urine, droppings, or saliva.

Argentina outbreak source investigation

▪Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists recently returned from Argentina after working with local public health officials to investigate the outbreak's origins by trapping and testing rodents.
▪Preliminary results from rodent samples collected along the cruise ship's route in Argentina were negative, and the source of exposure remains under investigation.