Experts say hantavirus is not the new Covid-19 and is unlikely to reach Indiana.
Hantavirus is a disease that primarily spreads among rodents; humans can also contract the virus through contact with infected rodents’ urine, droppings or saliva. It can spread human to human through close, prolonged contact, such as between family members, though not as easily as Covid-19 or the flu.
Of the over 100 people that were on the Hondius cruise ship in the South Atlantic, nine are confirmed to have contracted Andes virus, the only strain of hantavirus known to spread human to human. There are two probable cases. Three of those individuals have died from the virus. Rodents that carry the Andes virus have not been found in the U.S. and are more commonly found in South America, where the cruise ship made a stop.
Earlier this week, 18 passengers from the ship arrived back in the United States and are being monitored at facilities in Nebraska and Georgia.
Shandy Dearth, director of the Center for Public Health Practice at Indiana University’s Fairbank School of Public Health in Indianapolis, said since the 18 passengers are being kept away from the public, and the virus doesn’t spread as easily as Covid-19, the likelihood it will reach Indiana is low. And as of May 8, the World Health Organization has assessed the risk globally as low.
“They're following all of the medical procedures, PPE precautions to make sure no one else is in close contact with any of those 18 people,” she said. “So, we really don't see this as a high-risk situation. It's a really low concern right now.”
Hantavirus isn’t new to Indiana; the first reported case dates to 1999. In 2024, there were four confirmed cases in Indiana. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from 1993 to 2023, there were 890 cases of hantavirus in the U.S. About 94 percent of those occurred west of the Mississippi River.
Dearth says that’s because it can more easily spread in dry, arid conditions, such as New Mexico, where actor Gene Hackman’s wife died last year from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a more severe version of the virus that has a fatality rate of up to 50 percent.
“We've seen it here in Indiana, sometimes when it's a little bit drier, but also in certain situations, like someone cleaning out, you know, hay from a barn,” Dearth said. “So, that person is aerosolizing mouse feces and urine. I think that's a situation that has happened before in some areas, but here in Indiana, the risk is very low.”
Symptoms of hantavirus include fever, muscle aches, cough and shortness of breath; they appear four to 42 days after exposure. There is no specific vaccine available.
