Expert warns: "There is a more severe form of the Andes hantavirus, and it has been spreading for a long time"

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment announced on Tuesday that three individuals, whose identities have not been disclosed to protect privacy, are being monitored by the department, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the local health department.According to the statement, the three individuals were not on the cruise ship &lsquo;MV Hondius,&rsquo; where the Andes strain of hantavirus was confirmed in at least 11 people and where three deaths have been recorded, nor are they currently showing any symptoms of the disease.Update on #hantavirus:As of 12 May, 12h00 CEST, a total of 11 cases, including 3 deaths, have been reported. Nine of the 11 cases are confirmed, and the other 2 are probable. All are among passengers or crew on the ship.We expect more cases given the dynamics of spread on a&hellip; pic.twitter.com/NeeLyMQFdk&mdash; World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) May 12, 2026&ldquo;Exposure to the virus occurred abroad after contact with a person from the cruise ship &lsquo;MV Hondius,&rsquo; who later tested positive for the Andes strain of hantavirus,&rdquo; the statement said.How is the Andes strain transmitted?Shutterstock/Lightspring &ldquo;The Andes strain of hantavirus is carried by small mice, which shed the virus in their urine and feces,&rdquo; explained Dr. Steven Simpson, a physician with the University of Kansas Health System who worked in Argentina in 1996 during one of the first human hantavirus outbreaks outside the United States.&ldquo;When the feces dries, the virus can attach to dust particles and infect people when they inhale that dust,&rdquo; Simpson said.UPDATE: A new hantavirus case linked to the cruise ship outbreak has been reported at a military hospital in Spain, bringing the total to nine globally, including three deaths. 16 Americans quarantined in Nebraska remain symptom-free and in good spirits. pic.twitter.com/sgoF9eMk5e&mdash; CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil (@CBSEveningNews) May 13, 2026Back then, he said, they monitored the spread of the disease and, since hospital conditions were not ideal&mdash;some healthcare workers, for example, did not even have gloves&mdash;they concluded that there was no human-to-human transmission. However, further research in later years showed the opposite.Today, scientists know that the Andes strain of hantavirus can, in rare cases, be transmitted between humans, and only through close contact with an infected person, Simpson said.However, he agrees with Kansas health authorities that the threat to public health is extremely low.Simpson hopes that attention on hantavirus will raise awareness of cases that typically occur in the United States&mdash;890 cases nationwide in 2023, including 20 in Kansas&mdash;which are linked to activities such as cleaning barns and disturbing dust contaminated with rodent urine or feces.&ldquo;We have hantavirus, and especially in western Kansas, you can get infected with it,&rdquo; he said, but also warned: &ldquo;Because there was an El Ni&ntilde;o phenomenon last fall and winter, there is a possibility that we now have more mice, especially deer mice.&rdquo;Simpson warned that people should be careful when disturbing dust while cleaning areas where mouse droppings may be present.He said that the hantavirus found in Kansas through this route poses a greater danger than the Andes strain.Symptoms of Andes hantavirus&ldquo;Symptoms of the Andes strain of hantavirus can appear as early as two days after exposure to the virus, and the longest recorded incubation period is 42 days,&rdquo; Simpson said.The virus is most commonly transmitted between humans through bodily fluids, especially through coughing once an infected person begins to become ill. Kissing and sexual contact can also transmit the virus.The virus can remain in the air and spread during prolonged stays in an enclosed space with an infected person, such as sleeping in the same bed or staying in the same room, even without direct physical contact, Simpson said.The virus can replicate in the salivary glands, and is therefore spread through tiny droplets produced when people cough, sneeze, or even breathe.&ldquo;People infected with the Andes strain of the virus are contagious for a day or two. It appears that this begins when they develop the first symptoms,&rdquo; he said.Symptoms include common signs of viral infection such as fever, body aches, chills, vomiting, and diarrhea, according to Kansas health authorities.A few days after the onset of initial symptoms, people may develop a severe respiratory illness known as hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, causing cough, chest tightness, and difficulty breathing, which can be fatal.There is also no specific treatment, and care is based on supporting the patient during the illness.Does the virus mutate?Viruses mutate, that is, they adapt as they spread, but Simpson says this only happens when the virus passes through a large number of infected individuals over a long period of time.&lsquo;The key point is that it takes many generations of transmission for a virus to mutate into something that poses a serious threat,&rsquo; Simpson said.&lsquo;So far, that has never happened. If anything, the virus seems to become somewhat weaker with each transmission. The highest number of consecutive hantavirus transmissions ever documented was four generations, after which the virus disappeared. This could have happened for various reasons, such as the infected person staying at home and not further spreading the virus,&rsquo; he said.Because of all this, as well as the fact that Kansas health authorities and local officials are closely monitoring the situation, Simpson believes that the Andes strain hantavirus outbreak currently does not pose a serious threat to public health.

Expert warns: "There is a more severe form of the Andes hantavirus, and it has been spreading for a long time"

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