00:15A cruise ship, 147 passengers, a deadly virus that kills up to 50% of the people it infects.
00:25And right now, people from that ship are back home in the United States, Arizona, California, Georgia.
00:32This is not a movie.
00:34This is happening in May 2026.
00:37And the virus in question?
00:39It makes COVID's death rate look small.
00:42Meet Hantavirus and why health officials are watching very, very carefully.
00:47The MV Hondias, a Dutch expedition cruise ship, departed Ushuaia, Argentina in early April 2026 on what was supposed to
00:57be a dream voyage.
00:59Antarctica, South Georgia, remote Atlantic islands.
01:04147 people aboard, passengers and crew from 23 different countries, including Americans.
01:11But somewhere along the route, something invisible came aboard too.
01:15By April 6th, a 70-year-old Dutchman had a fever, headache and mild stomach trouble.
01:22Five days later, he was dead.
01:24Respiratory failure.
01:26On a ship with nowhere to go.
01:28His wife fell ill next.
01:30She was evacuated at St. Helena and died in Johannesburg on April 26th.
01:35Then a British passenger.
01:37Then a German.
01:39By early May, the ship was anchored off Cape Verde, denied entry to port.
01:43Three dead, one critically ill in an ICU.
01:47Passengers evacuated in full protective gear.
01:50The WHO notified.
01:52So where did it come from?
01:54Investibators believe it started on land.
01:57A rodent watch-watching excursion near a landfill in Argentina.
02:01Rodent droppings.
02:02Rodent urine.
02:03That is all it takes with this virus.
02:06You breathe in microscopic particles.
02:08And hantavirus is inside you.
02:10And here is what makes this strain especially chilling.
02:14It is the Andes virus.
02:16One of the only hantaviruses in the world that can spread from person to person.
02:21Here is where it gets close to home.
02:23Around 23 passengers disembarked at earlier stops and flew home before anyone even knew there
02:30was an outbreak.
02:31Some of them are in the United States right now.
02:34Health officials are monitoring people in Arizona, California, and Georgia.
02:39The CDC is involved.
02:40One passenger, who returned to Switzerland, already tested positive.
02:45As of now, the U.S. cases show no symptoms.
02:48But hantavirus has an incubation period of one to eight weeks, which means the clock is still running.
02:55Now, the big question.
02:57Is hantavirus more dangerous than COVID?
03:00On pure lethality, yes, dramatically.
03:02COVID's overall fatality rate was around one to two percent globally.
03:08Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, the form on this ship, kills 40 to 50 percent of those infected, nearly one in two.
03:16The Andes strain can pass between people in very close, prolonged contact.
03:21But it is not a respiratory pandemic pathogen.
03:24The WHO's current risk to the global public?
03:28Low.
03:28This is not 2020.
03:30But 50 percent mortality is 50 percent mortality.
03:34And that demands respect.
03:35Here is what you need to know.
03:37If you or anyone you know was on the MV Hantavirus or traveled with someone who was, watch for fever,
03:45headache, muscle aches, or breathing difficulty in the coming weeks.
03:48See a doctor immediately and mention possible exposure.
03:52For everyone else, the risk is low.
03:54This is not a pandemic, but this outbreak is a warning shot.
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