News of three people on a cruise ship dying from the Hantavirus and several others infected has some people worried about the possibility of another pandemic. LSU Health New Orleans infectious disease expert Dr. Fred Lopez says Hantavirus is not nearly as contagious as other viruses.
“COVID-19, although not as contagious as measles, is more contagious than this virus that we’re talking about,” Lopez said.
Hantavirus spreads from rodent droppings to people and usually a person cannot transmit it to another person. But Lopez says this is a special type of Andes Virus, where it can spread between people.
“But it’s usually limited to people who really have close contact with people who are infected,” Lopez noted.
Lopez says health officials will use the Hantavirus outbreak on the nature-sightseeing cruise ship to get a better understanding of how the Andes Virus transmits between people.
The cruise ship was forced to dock in Spain and the crew members and passengers on board are now being quarantined at facilities around the globe. Symptoms can develop between 4 and 42 days from exposure, which is why the quarantine can last that long.
Lopez says Hantavirus should not be of high concern to the general public.
“The low transmissibility and the requirement for close contact, I think, makes this something we should be able to contain,” Lopez said.
Betsy Arkaway, the 65-year-old wife of actor Gene Hackman, died in February of 2025 from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. It is suspected she fell ill from the severe respiratory disease from an infected rodent dropping in their New Mexico home. New Mexico often leads the nation in hantavirus cases.