Hantavirus

Kennedy overrides CDC order saying an American who came into contact with hantavirus can self-quarantine The Trump administration is employing “authoritarian” and “unconstitutional” quarantine measures for at least one person who came into contact with a hantavirus patient, health law experts say.The mandatory quarantine, reimposed without an offering scientific evidence, reveals how the US might approach future cases of Ebola and other pathogens in the US – and sets a precedent for detaining Americans with no scientific rationale. Continue reading...

• The U.S. administration has implemented strict health restrictions, including mandatory quarantine orders for two passengers from a cruise ship affected by hantavirus. • In a more severe measure, the government is blocking American citizens who contract Ebola from returning to the United States for medical treatment. • These policies have sparked significant public health concerns regarding the legality and ethics of denying citizens access to domestic healthcare during crises.

• The U.S. administration has implemented strict travel restrictions, including banning entry for individuals from countries experiencing Ebola outbreaks and blocking infected U.S. citizens from returning home for treatment. • Additionally, federal officials imposed mandatory quarantine orders on two passengers from a cruise ship affected by hantavirus. • These measures have sparked significant concern among public health and infectious disease experts, as the World Health Organization explicitly opposes such travel bans.

• Researchers, including Dr. Paul Bollyky of Stanford Medical Center, are struggling to secure funding and infrastructure to develop vaccines and treatments for the hantavirus. • The lack of medical countermeasures was highlighted during a recent hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship, where no preventative tools were available. • Development is hindered by the virus's sporadic nature and the rarity of infections, which makes conducting large-scale clinical trials significantly more difficult than for common germs like the flu.

• A hantavirus outbreak linked to a Dutch cruise ship in early May has triggered a surge of health misinformation, mirroring patterns seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. • False claims are circulating that the outbreak was caused by COVID-19 vaccines, based on a misinterpretation of a Pfizer document listing events to be monitored during trials. • The misinformation falsely presents a list of pre-designated monitoring conditions as confirmed adverse events, a tactic previously used to spread falsehoods about COVID-19.

• Unproven treatments, including ivermectin, vitamin D, and zinc, are being promoted on social media as cures for hantavirus following a recent cruise ship outbreak. • While vitamin D and zinc are known to support general immune regulation, there is currently no hantavirus-specific clinical evidence to support their use for this disease. • This trend mirrors the misinformation patterns seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, where therapeutic extrapolation led users to adopt unverified medical treatments.

Ever-growing influence of social media and AI means such ideas spreading at faster rates than before, experts sayHantavirus and Ebola outbreaks carry with them familiar attendants in the US: extreme conspiracy theories about a planned pandemic, or “plandemic”, designed to upend midterms elections or push new vaccines or any one of a myriad of wild ideas.Ebola, which the World Health Organization warned Friday is spreading rapidly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and poses a “very high” risk at the national level. In the upside-down world of conspiracy theories it could be a bioweapon, a financial plot, or a scheme to extract national resources. Continue reading...

Plus, John Travolta’s beret, Rachel Reeves reclaims basic civility and Judy Garland comes to east London Much discussion in my household this week about the possibility of hantavirus or Ebola becoming Covid-like in their spread. As darkening news from central Africa throws the withdrawal of US international aid into terrible relief, so we revisit memories of those early months of 2020 when reports of a strange virus in China slowly crept from final item on the news list to blaring emergency. Continue reading...

Pandemic report warns of growing global threat as health teams in Africa move to contain Ebola outbreak The world is becoming less resilient to outbreaks of infectious diseases, experts have warned, as health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda scramble to contain an outbreak of Ebola.The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB) said in a report published on Monday that “as infectious disease outbreaks become more frequent they are also becoming more damaging”, warning that pandemic risk is outpacing investments in preparedness and “the world is not yet meaningfully safer”. Continue reading...

The person was on board the MV Hondius, the center of the outbreak that has claimed three livesCanadian officials said oon Saturday that one of the four Canadians currently quarantining in British Columbia after being exposed to the hantavirus while on board the cruise ship where the outbreak occurred has presumptively tested positive.Speaking at news conference, Dr Bonnie Henry, British Columbia’s provincial health officer, said the individual developed mild symptoms, including fever and headache, two days ago, and that the individual and their partner, who had also been on board the cruise ship where they had been isolating together, were transferred to a hospital in Victoria for assessment and testing. Continue reading...

Health minister Mark Butler says six passengers who have tested negative for hantavirus will land in Western Australia on FridayFour Australian citizens who were aboard the MV Hondius, the cruise ship at the centre of the hantavirus outbreak, will soon be home after the government secured a suitable aircraft and crew for the journey.The health minister, Mark Butler, said the citizens, along with a permanent resident and a New Zealand citizen, were due to take off from the Netherlands on Thursday evening local time and would land in Perth on Friday afternoon. Continue reading...

Passengers will now continue their 45 days of isolation at home, with health officials confirming they remain asymptomaticSix people who were on the cruise ship linked to an outbreak of hantavirus have left Arrowe Park hospital in Wirral to isolate at home, health officials have said.Passengers from the MV Hondius were taken to the Merseyside facility for checks by specialists. Continue reading...

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praises Spain’s ‘compassion and solidarity’ in evacuating virus-hit cruise shipThe head of the World Health Organization has warned countries to prepare for more hantavirus cases after the outbreak onboard the MV Hondius, and thanked Spain for the “compassion and solidarity” it had shown by taking in the stricken cruise ship and evacuating its passengers and crew.Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged countries to follow the WHO’s advice and recommendations, which include a 42-day quarantine and constant monitoring of high-risk contacts. Continue reading...

• Health officials addressed a hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship, announcing the return of 18 Americans evacuated to Nebraska for quarantine on May 11, 2026. • Adm. Brian Christine, assistant secretary for health, stated 'the risk of hantavirus to the general public remains very, very low,' noting the Andes variant requires prolonged close contact like sharing utensils or 15 minutes within six feet of symptomatic individuals. • Most evacuees are monitored at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, the nation's only federal quarantine unit and a leading high-risk infectious disease facility.

Health minister Mark Butler says six people from MC Hondius plus flight crew from charter plane to be isolated for weeksFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralians and New Zealanders who were aboard the deadly hantavirus-hit cruise ship will undergo the first three weeks of their quarantine at the Bullsbrook national resilience centre, just outside Perth.The flight crew that brings them back to the country will have to join them, Australia’s health minister, Mark Butler, said. Continue reading...

French woman taken to Paris in serious condition while American flown to Nebraska is asymptomatic, say officialsEurope live – latest updatesA French woman and an American national evacuated from the cruise ship at the centre of a deadly hantavirus outbreak have tested positive for the virus, as the complex operation to repatriate those on board continued on Monday.The French woman was one of five French passengers who disembarked from the ship in Tenerife on Sunday before being flown to a hospital in Paris. Continue reading...

Twenty people from MV Hondius cruise spend first day living in self-contained flats in MerseysidePassengers evacuated to the UK from a cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak are spending their first day at an isolation facility after being repatriated from Tenerife.A chartered Titan Airways flight transported the MV Hondius passengers from the Canary Islands to Manchester airport on Sunday evening. The evacuation of passengers of all nationalities will be completed on Monday, with flights arriving from Australia and the Netherlands, Spain’s health minister has said. Continue reading...

The MV Hondius, the cruise ship hit by an outbreak of a virus that has left three dead, reached the Canary Islands on SundayOn a dusty hill overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in the south of Tenerife, groups of tourists and locals are gathered to witness one of the island’s best new attractions.Some are gazing through binoculars while others are taking photos on their phones of a vessel only a few hundreds metres away, anchored near the Granadillo commercial port. Continue reading...

In today’s newsletter: ​The outbreak aboard a luxury cruise ship​ offers a stark reminder of how easily a deadly pathogen can hitch a ride across borders​, and how fragile global preparedness remainsGood morning. This is Michael Segalov – as of today, I’ll be popping up into your inboxes from time to time.There’ll be no shortage of infighting, intrigue and briefing in Westminster this week, as the dust settles on the government’s disastrous election results. We’ll be bringing you the latest on backbench MP Catherine West’s (likely futile) attempt to topple Keir Starmer, alongside the rest of the fallout.UK politics | Keir Starmer faces a fight for his political life in the next 24 hours as potential Labour leadership rivals from Wes Streeting to Angela Rayner position themselves for a contest.Iran conflict | Donald Trump has rejected an Iranian response to a US peace proposal as “totally unacceptable”, on a day the ceasefire showed signs of fraying as drone strikes were reported around the region and Benjamin Netanyahu warned the war was “not over”.UK news | Labour has accused Nigel Farage of attempting to dodge scrutiny as the Reform leader continued to face questions over the £5m gift he received from a crypto billionaire shortly before the last general election.Business | The full nationalisation of British Steel is expected to be announced in the king’s speech this week, a year after the government took over the daily running of the loss-making business from its Chinese owner.Health news | Experts have called for a four-day week in the UK as research suggests those who work longer hours are more likely to be obese. Continue reading...

• Seventeen passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship are being flown to the National Quarantine Unit in Omaha, Nebraska, the same facility used during the early COVID-19 pandemic, after potential hantavirus exposure aboard the vessel. • CDC officials confirmed three deaths related to the outbreak and are monitoring at least nine Americans across six states—Arizona, California, Virginia, Texas, Georgia, and New Jersey—for possible infections, though none have shown symptoms yet. • Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, stated the outbreak "is on the end of its run right now," noting hantavirus has very limited person-to-person transmission capability and is a "rare exception" for spread.

Four Australian citizens and one permanent resident from the MV Hondius to fly home via Perth on TuesdayFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia will repatriate four citizens and one permanent resident from the MV Hondius, the ship at the centre of the hantavirus outbreak, on a charter flight due to land in Perth on Tuesday.The ship, carrying 146 people, arrived at Tenerife, the largest of Spain’s Canary Islands, on Sunday morning after three people died of the virus and eight others became ill. Passengers and crew were confined to their cabins to help stop the spread of the virus. Continue reading...

• An Andes hantavirus outbreak has been confirmed aboard an Atlantic cruise ship, with seven Americans who were passengers now returning to their homes in Arizona, Georgia, California, Texas, and Virginia. • The acting CDC director Jay Bhattacharya stated that US health agencies are equipped to handle the hantavirus response and have been coordinating closely with international partners to contain the outbreak. • New Jersey has joined a growing list of US states now monitoring for hantavirus cases related to the cruise ship incident, expanding surveillance across multiple regions.

Soldiers dropped oxygen supplies and medical aid to Britain’s most remote overseas territory• What is hantavirus?Paratroopers landed on a “golf course covered in rocks” to supply medical personnel and oxygen to Britain’s most remote overseas territory as it deals with a suspected hantavirus case, an army commander said.The UK Health Security Agency confirmed on Friday that a British national had disembarked from the cruise ship MV Hondius to the South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, where they live, with a suspected case of hantavirus. Continue reading...

The 17 passengers are set to be transferred to a special quarantine center in Nebraska to ‘assess them for risk’The 17 Americans onboard the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship M/V Hondius were being repatriated to the United States on Sunday after the vessel docked in Tenerife and all the passengers were evacuated.Upon their arrival in Spain, medical teams from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were waiting and interviewed the passengers, whose identities have not been publicly disclosed and who have not tested positive for the virus, about their exposure on the cruise. Continue reading...

Thirty years after first person-to-person transmission was documented in Patagonia, scientists say global heating could increase world’s exposureAn outbreak in rural communities 30 years ago in the Patagonia area of Argentina led scientists, for the first time, to document person-to-person transmission of hantavirus, which until then had been known only to spread through contact with rodents.Nearly a decade ago another outbreak, also in Patagonia, provided detailed evidence of inter-human transmission when an infected 68-year-old rural worker attended a birthday party in a small village. The infection spread and resulted in 11 deaths. Continue reading...

MV Hondius anchors offshore carrying 146 people as authorities scramble to get planes to take them homeThe cruise ship at the centre of a deadly outbreak of hantavirus has arrived in Tenerife for the evacuation of those onboard.The ship arrived in the Canary Islands in the early hours of Sunday morning carrying 146 people, after three people died of the virus and eight more became ill. Continue reading...

Spanish health officials says all 146 passengers remain asymptomatic as vessel arrives in Tenerife waters Good morning, and welcome to our Europe live blog. Spanish health ​officials have said all the passengers on the ‌hantavirus-stricken MV Hondius remain asymptomatic after the vessel arrived in Tenerife on Sunday, almost a month after the first passenger died of the rodent-borne disease on board the ship.“The anchoring has been a success despite all the difficulties,” the health minister, Mónica García, said after intensive preparations to receive the ship in the port of Granadilla were carried out over recent days.Vladimir Putin has said he thinks the Ukraine war is winding down, adding that he was ready to meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a third country only once all conditions for a potential peace agreement were settled.The pro-European centre-right leader Péter Magyar has been sworn in as prime minister of Hungary, marking the official end to Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power.The king of Denmark asked a centre-right politician to try to form a new government after the prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, failed to put together a ruling coalition. Continue reading...

• At least six US states—California, Georgia, Virginia, Arizona, Texas, and New Jersey—are tracking nine residents who disembarked from the MV Hondius cruise ship amid a deadly hantavirus outbreak overseas. • Health officials report no symptoms among the monitored Americans, including two each in Texas, New Jersey, and Georgia, and one each in California, Virginia, and Arizona; 30 people total left the ship late last month before the outbreak was confirmed. • State spokespeople like California's Brian Micek and Georgia's Nancy Nydam Shirek emphasize coordination with CDC and low public risk, with self-monitoring via daily temperature checks in Texas.