1 jam yang lalu
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Health officials in Illinois are investigating a potential hantavirus case involving a resident of Winnebago County, though authorities stressed that the infection is unrelated to the recent deadly outbreak aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced on Tuesday that the individual is suspected of contracting a North American strain of hantavirus after cleaning a home contaminated with rodent droppings.
AOL revealed that the suspected patient experienced only mild symptoms and did not require hospitalization. Health officials said the individual is currently recovering.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is conducting additional laboratory testing to confirm whether the resident is positive for hantavirus. Results are expected within approximately 10 days.
Hantaviruses are a group of viruses carried primarily by rodents, including rats and mice. Humans can become infected through exposure to contaminated rodent urine, saliva, or droppings. There is currently no specific antiviral treatment or vaccine for the disease.
Authorities emphasized that the North American strain suspected in Illinois differs from the Andes strain linked to the international outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship.
Unlike the Andes variant, which can spread through close person-to-person contact, the North American strain is not believed to transmit between humans.
State officials reiterated that the overall risk to Illinois residents remains “very low.”
The announcement comes as global health authorities continue monitoring the outbreak connected to the MV Hondius, where three passengers have died after contracting the Andes strain of hantavirus.
Daily Herald noted that six cruise ship passengers with confirmed or suspected infections remain in quarantine, while 18 American passengers were flown back to the United States on Monday for medical evaluation in Nebraska and Atlanta.
Illinois officials stated that there is currently no indication that any residents from the state were aboard the ship.
Before the latest suspected case, Illinois had recorded only seven confirmed hantavirus infections since 1993, with the most recent case reported in March 2025.
The potential Illinois infection has also renewed criticism from state officials regarding the federal government’s public health preparedness.
Governor JB Pritzker’s office issued a statement expressing “serious concerns” about the federal response capacity amid reports of staffing reductions at the CDC, National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR).
Illinois officials also questioned whether the United States’ withdrawal from the World Health Organization could affect international coordination in handling the outbreak.
According to state officials, several key questions remain unanswered, including why states were not immediately provided with passenger manifests identifying potentially exposed residents after the cruise ship outbreak emerged.
Meanwhile, US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated that federal authorities have the situation under control.
“We have this under control, and we’re not worried about it. We’ve had CDC teams on it from day one,” Kennedy said during a media briefing.
US President Donald Trump also defended Washington’s decision to withdraw from the WHO, saying the organization had become too costly for the United States.
Read: Hantavirus: How Is the Outbreak Being Contained?
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