U.S. and French Nationals Test Positive for Hantavirus After Leaving...

The outbreak aboard the MV Hondius began after the vessel departed Argentina, with two Dutch people and a German national dying onboard. The WHO has stressed that “this is not coronavirus,” and has advised against travel restrictions while encouraging countries to monitor potential cases and isolate infected individuals. CDC acting director Jay Bhattacharya has also emphasized that this is “not going to lead to the kind of outbreak” people saw during the COVID pandemic. “This is not COVID and we don’t want to treat it like COVID. We don’t want to cause a public panic over this. We want to treat it with the hantavirus protocols that were successful in containing outbreaks in the past,” he said Sunday during CNN’s State of the Union. Bhattacharya confirmed that the CDC will interview the returning U.S. passengers and “assess them for risk.” Further action will be decided upon once assessments are complete.