What the numbers tell us about hantavirus | CNN

Health authorities across several countries are racing to trace and contain an outbreak of hantavirus after the World Health Organization said that five confirmed infections had been identified among people connected to the cruise ship MV Hondius. The virus is typically associated with rodents, but it may have passed from human to human aboard the vessel, according to WHO. Since April 11, three people from the ship have died, while a handful of others are sick. The outbreak was first reported to WHO on May 2 and remains a low risk to the general public, the organization says. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has classified its hantavirus response as level 3, the agency’s lowest level of emergency, according to a person involved in the situation. Spanish authorities will conduct a full epidemiological investigation and disinfect the ship after it docks in Tenerife in the Canary Islands, where WHO believes the port has the right conditions for passengers to safely disembark. Here are the details by the numbers so far. CNN’s Brenda Goodman and Lauren Kent contributed to this report. © 2026 Cable News Network. A Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All Rights Reserved.