Hantavirus cases in the US mapped showing where rat virus has been……
New Mexico has seen the highest quantity of hantavirus cases in the US (Image: CDC)
Health authorities are highlighting the risks of hantavirus following a cluster of infections aboard the MV Hondius that claimed three lives and sickened a number of others, demonstrating how quickly the disease can emerge and proliferate in close-quarters, high-contact settings.
The outbreak has sparked wider alarm as the U.S. strikes into its busiest journey and outside exercise period. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), hantaviruses are accountable for two separate symptom patterns discovered across the Western Hemisphere, including the U.S., which might lead to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS).
Across the U.S., deer mice serve as the main carriers of these infections. Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) presents comparable medical options and originates from hantaviruses primarily discovered in Europe and Asia. That said, Seoul virus, a variant of hantavirus that causes HFRS, exists worldwide, including across the U.S.
Hantavirus cases in the U.S.
Monitoring of hantavirus in the U.S. commenced in 1993, following a collection of extreme respiratory cases that appeared in the Four Corners space, where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet.
Three people have died aboard the MV Hondius (Image: -, AFP via Getty Images)
By 1995, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) grew to become a nationally notifiable condition, with incidents now tracked via the Nationally Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (NNDSS), according to the CDC.
The latest figures, current through the end of 2023, point out that the U.S. has documented 890 cases of hantavirus disease since monitoring started in 1993. Among confirmed cases, 62% had been documented in male sufferers while 38% occurred in feminine sufferers. The disease proved deadly in 35% of reported cases.
New Mexico recorded the highest case depend at 129. Colorado adopted with 121, and Arizona reported 92. California logged 79 cases spanning 1993 through 2023, while Washington state documented 61 cases. Every other state tallied 50 cases or fewer.
This 1994 handout picture from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) obtained on May 6, 2026, exhibits a {photograph} taken through a microscope of a liver tissue specimen that was extracted from a hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) affected person. Three people believed to have been contaminated with hantavirus have been evacuated from a cruise ship off Cape Verde and are being taken to the Netherlands, the WHO chief said Wednesday, May 6, 2026. World Health Organization director common Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that “the overall public health risk remains low” from the alert over the uncommon disease often unfold from contaminated rodents, usually through urine, droppings and saliva. (Photo by HANDOUT / US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) / AFP via Getty Images) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – MANDATORY CREDIT “AFP PHOTO / US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) / Handout” – HANDOUT – NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS (Image: US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)/AFP via Getty Images)
How is hantavirus transmitted?
Human infection with hantaviruses occurs mainly through publicity to rodent urine, droppings, or saliva, particularly from rats and mice. Though rodent bites and scratches can unfold infection, these cases are uncommon.
What are the symptoms of hantavirus infection?
The severity of hantavirus symptoms varies relying on which syndrome the contaminated particular person develops.
In HPS sufferers, symptoms floor within one to eight weeks and typically embody exhaustion, fever, and muscle aches, particularly in large muscle teams like the thighs, hips, and back, and sometimes the shoulders.
Around half of HPS sufferers expertise complications, dizziness, chills, and digestive issues, including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and belly discomfort.
Four to 10 days following the initial sickness stage, late-stage HPS symptoms seem, including coughing, breathlessness, and chest constriction as fluid builds up in the lungs. The severity of symptoms also relies upon on the virus pressure. Cases involving Hantaan and Dobrava viruses usually current critical symptoms, with fatality charges reaching 5-15%. In distinction, Seoul, Saaremaa, and Puumala virus cases have a tendency to be considerably milder, with a mortality fee of just 1%.
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