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The Hantavirus Isn’t the Biggest Threat We’re Facing

The government’s destruction of our pandemic preparedness is.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. answers a question on the hantavirus in the Oval Office on May 11, 2026.

First, the good news: If you are in the United States, you are not going to catch the hantavirus. At least, you’re not going to catch the strain of the pathogen that’s been in the news lately.

That strain is known as the “Andes” variant, so named because it has previously been confined to South America. To repeat: It is not coming for us. We do have our own, made-in-the-USA hantavirus strain, called the “Sin Nombre” virus. It’s transmitted by inhalation of aerosolized rodent feces, urine or saliva and has caused under 1,000 cases since it was identified back in 1993, with the highest number of cases in the Southwest. If you live in New Mexico, Arizona, or Colorado, the risk of acquiring the virus when cleaning out a shed or garage is low but nontrivial. Put on an N-95 mask and wash your hands if you’re concerned. Otherwise? You’re going to be fine.

While the Andes virus has been known to spread by human-to-human contact, the exposed individuals in the United States from the outbreak on the cruise ship MV Hondius have been sequestered for now at the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center/Nebraska Medicine in Omaha or at Emory University’s Serious Communicable Diseases unit in Atlanta. Once they have been assessed, they will undergo a 42-day monitoring period in isolation. If they can isolate at home, that will be allowed. Will we see a few more cases? Perhaps even beyond those now in confinement? Possibly, but even so, Andes has mitigating characteristics that distinguish it from influenza or SARS-CoV-2, and prolonged, close personal contact is required for transmission. All in all, large-scale outbreaks are now unlikely given the control measures in place.

That’s the good news. Now for the not-so-good........

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