WHO, CDC probe hantavirus outbreak that killed 3 on cruise ship

Three people have died and others have fallen ill in a suspected hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship, with the World Health Organization and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now conducting laboratory testing and epidemiological investigations, ABC7 Los Angeles reported.

The outbreak has renewed alarm over hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which kills roughly 35% of those infected and has no specific treatment or cure, making rapid identification and early medical care the only tools available to clinicians.

The virus spreads primarily through contact with infected rodents or their urine, saliva and droppings — particularly when those materials are disturbed and become airborne. Health officials warn that sweeping or vacuuming rodent droppings can aerosolize viral particles and sharply raise infection risk. Direct person-to-person transmission is rare, according to ABC7 Los Angeles.

Symptoms typically emerge one to eight weeks after exposure and begin by mimicking influenza. "Early in the illness, you really may not be able to tell the difference between hantavirus and having the flu," said Dr. Sonja Bartolome, a physician at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, according to ABC7 Los Angeles. As the disease advances, patients may develop chest tightness and fluid accumulation in the lungs.

There is no specific treatment or vaccine. Health officials say seeking early medical care can improve survival chances. A separate form of the disease, hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, is more common in the Eastern Hemisphere and carries a fatality rate of 1% to 15%, the report noted.

In the United States, hantavirus is most prevalent in western states. The 1993 outbreak in the Four Corners region — spanning Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah — prompted the CDC to begin formal tracking of the virus. New Mexico and Arizona remain the highest-risk states, according to ABC7 Los Angeles.

The illness drew broader public attention last year when Betsy Arakawa, wife of late actor Gene Hackman, died from hantavirus in New Mexico. Despite decades of research, key questions remain unanswered. Michelle Harkins, a pulmonologist at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, described the virus as still posing "a lot of mysteries," according to ABC7 Los Angeles.

Health authorities advise against dry-sweeping or vacuuming areas where rodent droppings are present, which can send infectious particles airborne, and recommend seeking prompt medical care if flu-like symptoms develop after any suspected rodent exposure.