MV Hondius Cruise Cluster

Classification breakdown

HantaScan represents the WHO total as three separate rows, never as a single 11-case figure.

• Confirmed (8) — laboratory-confirmed across participating WHO Member State laboratories.
• Probable (2) — clinically compatible with epidemiologic linkage; no confirmatory lab result yet.
• Inconclusive (1) — single U.S. repatriated traveler with repeat testing pending.

Suspected exposure context

The investigation centers on travel-associated exposure during the MV Hondius's multi-country South American itinerary. Andes virus is endemic in southern Argentina and Chile, with the long-tailed pygmy rice rat as primary reservoir. Reservoir-overlap windows during shore excursions, lodging conditions at port stops, and vessel sanitation are all part of the ongoing public-health review.

Why Andes virus is different

Andes virus is the one hantavirus with documented (rare) person-to-person transmission. That single fact reshapes how public health communicates about contact tracing, household exposure, and healthcare-worker precautions in this cluster — and why the cluster should not be folded into U.S. domestic HPS counts, which describe Sin Nombre and related viruses with no documented person-to-person spread.

U.S. posture toward the cluster

CDC has not confirmed an Andes-virus case in the United States linked to the cruise. The single U.S. record on the WHO list is inconclusive, reflecting a repatriated traveler whose initial testing did not produce a confirmation. CDC is running enhanced case-finding for returning passengers and routine NNDSS reporting will pick up any confirmations going forward.

What follow-up means

Repeat testing on the inconclusive U.S. record may move it to confirmed or rule it out. WHO updates may add, remove, or reclassify records as labs return results. HantaScan reflects classification as published, with each WHO and CDC update appearing as a dated row in the case index.

Reference: Yosemite 2012

The clearest modern U.S. reference for multi-person hantavirus exposure tied to a single environment is the 2012 Yosemite Curry Village cluster: ten confirmed HPS cases, three deaths, all tied to the Signature double-walled tent cabins, where deer mice had nested between the cabin walls. The Signature cabins were dismantled and roughly 22,000 prior guests were notified. The cluster reframed CDC prevention guidance around hidden wall cavities and attic spaces.