Is hantavirus the next global threat? Fact-checking the outbreak with experts

This aerial view shows health personnel assisting patients onto a boat from the cruise ship MV Hondius, while stationary off the port of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, on May 6, 2026. AFP via Getty Images This article originally appeared on Medical News Today A rare hantavirus outbreak has affected a cruise ship carrying nearly 150 people who were travelling from Argentina on a long-haul Atlantic journey.

With a few confirmed deaths so far, several countries have ordered tracking and self-isolation for people at risk of suspected infection. However, the WHO currently maintains that the risk of human-to-human transmission and global spread is ‘low’ and the outbreak is under monitoring.

Medical News Today spoke to three experts to find out what symptoms to watch out for, when to seek care, and what to do if they suspect contact with the hantavirus . With international contact tracing efforts underway to track the passengers who disembarked the Dutch-flagged cruise ship MV Hondius early, concerns among the public about a larger outbreak of hantavirus have been growing.