A resident of Colorado has succumbed to hantavirus in an unusual incident not linked to the recent cruise ship outbreak that has claimed three lives.
According to health authorities, the infection in Douglas County is believed to have originated from contact with local rodents, and the threat to the public remains minimal.
Hantavirus generally spreads through inhalation of dust contaminated with the droppings of infected rodents, often stirred up during activities like sweeping or cleaning.
The CDC is actively monitoring 41 Americans across 16 states who may have been exposed to hantavirus linked to the outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship.
This particular outbreak is thought to have been initiated after a Dutch couple contracted the Andes strain of the virus while bird watching in Argentina, ultimately leading to their deaths.
Among those affected is an American doctor, who was a passenger on the cruise. He stepped in to care for sick passengers when the ship’s doctor fell ill. Although he initially tested positive for the virus, subsequent tests have returned negative results three times.
There are now ten hantavirus cases in connection with the cruise ship outbreak, including passengers and people who were exposed off the ship during travel.
About half of the Americans are being monitored by the CDC at quarantine centers in Georgia and Nebraska, while the other half are isolating at home.
The cruise ship MV Hondius, affected by a hantavirus outbreak, left the port of Granadilla de Abona, Tenerife, Spain, last week
Deer mice (one pictured here), are the most common carriers of hantavirus in the US (stock image)
The extremely rare virus was listed as the cause of death for Gene Hackman’s wife, Betsy Arakawa, in February 2025, but cases are mostly among farmers, hikers, campers, and homeless populations, according to the CDC.
Hantavirus strains found in the US are not spread person-to-person like the Andes strain, which is behind the cruise ship outbreak.
Strains found in America are spread through mouse and rodent droppings, especially when urine, feces, or nesting materials are disturbed and become aerosolized.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned about the possibility of rare human-to-human transmission in the MV Hondius outbreak, as the Andes hantavirus strain has been linked to previous outbreaks where the virus has spread between people.
Hantavirus was first identified in South Korea in 1978 when researchers isolated it from a field mouse.
However, it only affects about 40 to 50 Americans each year, mostly in the southwest.
Between 1993 and 2022, 864 cases have been confirmed, the latest available CDC data shows.
Specialist workers carry boxes as they begin the process of disinfecting the cruise ship MV Hondius, where a hantavirus outbreak occurred
Worldwide, there are about 150,000 to 200,000 cases per year, most of which are in China.
Hantavirus symptoms typically show up within one to eight weeks of exposure to infected rodents and include fatigue, fever, muscle aches, headache, dizziness, chills and abdominal or digestive issues.
After four to 10 days of the early symptoms, patients may experience shortness of breath, chest tightness and fluid in the lungs.
There is no specific treatment and patients are instead given supportive therapies like rest, hydration, and breathing support.
The rarity of hantavirus in the US is partly because the country has fewer rodent species that the illness can circulate amongst, compared to Asia and Europe, where multiple rodent species act as hosts.
In the US, deer mice are the most common carriers.
