COVID Response Coordinator Shares Why the Hantavirus Won't Turn into Another Pandemic
With the COVID-19 Pandemic barely six years in the rearview mirror, it's natural that many people are fearful of another illness coming along to cause widespread catastrophe and bring the world to a grinding halt. Case in point, if social media is to be believed, there are plenty of people concerned that recent news of the Hantavirus spreading on the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius has all the makings of another crippling pandemic.
That being said, the former White House COVID-19 response coordinator under President Biden, Dr. Ashish Jha, hopes to put minds at ease. He shared with Good Morning America, "This is not going to turn out to be some pandemic." So why does he feel Hantavirus is different?
Hantavirus "Is Not a Virus that Spreads That Easily"
Dr. Jha didn't hesitate to express on Good Morning America that while he was concerned for the people on the cruise ship, he's not as concerned for the public at large. He stated, "This is not going to turn out to be some pandemic. This is not a virus that spreads that easily. If you're sitting at home watching, you're going to be fine."
The good doctor further elaborated on why it's highly unlikely that Hantavirus will cause a global pandemic like COVID. Dr. Jha continued:
"COVID spread very, very easily, and it spread even when you didn't have symptoms. None of that is true for Hantavirus. So this is something that is going to kind of burn itself out in the upcoming weeks or months."
Since ‘93 Less Than 900 cases of Hantavirus Have Been Reported in the US
According to the Centers for Disease Control, as of 2023, fewer than 900 cases of Hantavirus were reported in the United States. That speaks to the rarity of the illness. Additionally, Dr. Jha noted that the strain of the virus on the cruise ship is the Andes variant, which is even more rare. A large reason for the infrequency of the illness again boils down to how difficult it is for it to spread.
"With COVID or flu, people sitting next to each other longer, you know, hanging out, they can infect each other," Jha said. "With the Andes strain, it takes prolonged exposure over many, many hours before you can infect somebody." Plus, when it comes to person-to-person transmission, Hantavirus is only known to be spread via people who exhibit Hantavirus symptoms.
For more information on the current outbreak of the Hantavirus aboard the cruise ship, head over to the World Health Organization's report.
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This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 8, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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This story was originally published May 8, 2026 at 3:54 PM.