Health authorities in Illinois are currently investigating a possible hantavirus infection in a resident of Winnebago County. The Illinois Department of Public Health announced on Tuesday that this case is not connected to any cruise ship outbreak.
To confirm the presence of the virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is carrying out further testing. According to the CDC, results from these tests are expected to take up to 10 days to be available.
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The individual in question is thought to have contracted the virus after cleaning a home where rodent droppings were found, a scenario that is consistent with typical hantavirus transmission, as noted by the IDPH.
Dr. Alfredo Mena Lora, an infectious disease specialist at Saint Anthony Hospital, explained, “We usually encounter cases like this when individuals clean areas that may have been inhabited by rodents. The virus can become airborne from aerosolized rat urine or feces.”
Fortunately, the person affected is not suffering from severe symptoms and is recovering well. The Illinois Department of Public Health reported that hospitalization was not necessary, as the symptoms remained mild.
The person is not seriously ill and is recovering after experiencing mild symptoms that did not require hospitalization, IDPH said.
The North American strain of the hantavirus, which the individual is believed to have potentially acquired, is not spread from person to person, IDPH said. This is different from the Andes strain associated with the MV Hondius cruise ship.
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“The South American strain of this virus, very rarely, but still possible, does have human-to-human transmission. That is not the case with here in the United States, which is why we have such low cases,” Lora said.
The risk of contracting Hantavirus of any kind remains very low for Illinois residents, IDPH said.
Orkin, a nationwide pest control company, says they have specific protocols in place when dealing with wildlife and rodent droppings to help mitigate potential spread.
“That includes the use of a disinfectant that’s sprayed onto the areas or onto the surfaces where rodent droppings are first before any cleanup is done,” said Orkin Entomologist and National Technical Director Shannon Sked.
And that’s how pest experts advise homeowners to approach rodent droppings before sweeping it away.
Sked says in terms of the rodents they are most concerned with when it comes to hantavirus, “This is not your typical house mouse, Norway rat, roof rat, which are most of the commensal rodents that we work with in the pest control environment… In the area in the Midwest, it’s those ones that come in in the winter and overwinter and then go back out into the that the farm fields in the summer.”
Winnebago County includes Rockford, Illinois.
Excluding this latest potential case, Illinois has had seven positive cases of hantavirus since 1993, most recently in March 2025.
Since surveillance began in 1993, the U.S. recorded 890 cases of Hantavirus over 30 years (1993-2023), IDPH said.
“The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has not been notified of any Illinois residents being passengers on the MV Hondius during the Hantavirus outbreak. IDPH will proactively update the public should there be any changes. While the risk to Illinois communities is currently very low, IDPH is coordinating closely with health care providers, local public health departments, and emergency management partners. IDPH will continue to monitor the situation closely and provide timely information to the public should there be any notable updates,” the IDPH said.
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