Special Edition: Hantavirus Explained – What's the Risk?

Summary

The NewsWorthy – Special Edition: Hantavirus Explained – What's the Risk?

Host: Erica Mandy
Guest: Dr. Caitlin Jettalina, Epidemiologist
Date: May 15, 2026

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Episode Overview

This special Saturday edition of The NewsWorthy dives into the recent hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship, a rare and concerning event with international implications. Host Erica Mandy welcomes Dr. Caitlin Jettalina, a renowned epidemiologist, to explain what’s unique and worrisome about this strain, the real risk to the general public, and what experts are monitoring as the situation unfolds. The episode unpacks the science, public health response, and the balance between taking action and avoiding unnecessary panic.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Rarity and Unusual Nature of the Outbreak

• Dr. Jettalina emphasizes the unexpected nature of a hantavirus outbreak, particularly on a cruise ship:
  • “This is not something we would have expected in a long run. But this is what viruses do. They surprise us.” (01:51)
  • She notes that while the US typically has some hantavirus cases yearly, large-scale international outbreaks are “certainly not normal.” (02:03)

2. The Virus: Strain and Concerns

• The outbreak involves the rare Andes strain, unlike previously-seen US strains:
  • The Andes strain is uniquely capable of person-to-person transmission—distinct from most hantaviruses, which are rodent-borne. (02:29)
  • “That’s what’s so interesting. It's from the Andes strain and it's unique compared to all other hantaviruses because it can spread person to person.” (02:41)

3. Severity and Incubation Period

• Death Rate: The virus is notably lethal.
  • “The case mortality rate is 30 to 40%. Like, you don’t wanna mess with this virus.” (03:15)
  • For context: seasonal flu mortality is about 0.15%. (03:29)
• Long Incubation: The incubation period can last up to 43 days.
  • “That incubation period is 43 days. Which means someone on this ship could have been exposed in the beginning of April and they still may get infected from that one exposure.” (03:41)
  • This makes quarantining especially lengthy and psychologically arduous. (04:23–04:31)

4. Risk Assessment for the Public

• General Risk Is Extremely Low
  • “We are not dealing with COVID 19. This is not just spreading around, and you could get it at Walmart, for example.” (05:19)
  • Unless you had close contact with an infected person or were on the ship, “the risk is close to zero.” (05:17)
• Pandemic Unlikely:
  • Because it’s relatively hard to catch and doesn’t spread asymptomatically, experts say a pandemic is “very, very low” risk. (05:27)

5. Monitoring and What Would Change Concern

• Dr. Jettalina rates her concern “about a 1 out of 10” for the general public. (06:20)
• Biggest Red Flag: The emergence of a case unconnected to the cruise ship or its passengers.
  • “For example, a random flight attendant would get me really nervous, or another healthcare worker where we don’t know those chains of transmission.” (06:34)

6. Contact Tracing and Quarantine Procedures

• Robust measures in place:
  • People within two rows of an impacted passenger on flights are quarantined and closely monitored. (07:49)
  • “If you were not contacted, you were not on that plane with these people, and the risk is still very, very low.” (08:24)

7. Symptoms & Guidance

• Hantavirus can feel like flu at first (fever, chills), but rapidly worsens:
  • “Then there’s rapid deterioration, a drop in blood pressure, respiratory distress and death. You die very quickly, actually…” (08:45)
• Unless you've been exposed via the cruise ship, “you do not have hantavirus.” But consult a doctor if concerned. (08:54)

8. Debate: Home Isolation vs. Quarantine Facility

• Passengers with no symptoms can choose home or Nebraska’s facility.
  • “The best option is the least restrictive approach that keeps communities safe.” (10:04)
  • Dr. Jettalina advises that monitoring is more important than the location.
  • Highlights the psychological toll:
    • “These people have been through a cruise from hell … a real psychological toll.” (10:56)

9. Public Health Response: Highs & Lows

• Dr. Jettalina praises WHO’s coordination and empathy (14:19), but is critical of the US CDC’s delayed public communication:
  • “There was almost zero communication with the public for about a week … And I’ve been really, really quite disappointed …” (15:06)
• CDC responded post-interview, saying their communications and coordination were prompt and thorough. (19:51)

10. US–WHO Coordination despite Official Withdrawal

• Although the US officially left the WHO, there have been exemptions for collaboration during the hantavirus response.
  • “Teams have gotten an exemption … This is a reminder that diseases don’t see borders.” (16:19)

11. Everyday Precautions and Advice

• No special precautions are needed: Travel, attend events, live normally.
  • “The risk is so, so, so low that there’s really nothing you need to do. … Still go on your vacation … I’m not thinking twice about it.” (17:03)
• Best action: Share only reliable information; don’t spread rumors.
  • “Triple check sources, not spreading unverified rumors, and then do share reputable and verified information.” (17:24)

12. Comparisons to Ebola

• Hantavirus shares Ebola’s high fatality but otherwise differs. US is much better prepared and tracking all exposed people.
  • “Just like Ebola, we’re on top of the response right now. … I’m very hopeful it will be contained in short time.” (18:35)

13. What’s Next: The Waiting Game

• Key turning point is next week (May 18th), when the incubation window closes for many exposed:
  • “I think it's May 18th next week when we start really sighing some relief … Right now it’s literally just waiting for biology to play out.” (19:17)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Novelty:
  “This is what viruses do. They surprise us. … a large outbreak like this involving multiple countries is certainly not normal.” — Dr. Jettalina (01:53)

• On Severity:
  “The case mortality rate is 30 to 40%. Like, you don’t wanna mess with this virus.” — Dr. Jettalina (03:15) “This is like a movie type virus or, you know, a thriller you would read in a book.” — Dr. Jettalina (03:33)

• Risk Perspective:
  “I’m at about a 1 right now [concern level] ... Definitely not concerned this is gonna turn into a pandemic.” — Dr. Jettalina (06:20)

• Trust in Public Health:
  “Right now, they’re still given that decision; it could be changed in the future if there’s enough pressure. But we’ll see what ultimately plays out.” — Dr. Jettalina (11:17)

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Key Timestamps

• [01:50–02:19] – Rarity of this outbreak and cruise ship surprise
• [02:29–03:00] – Andes strain and its ability for person-to-person transmission
• [03:14–03:41] – Deadliness and long incubation period explained
• [05:16–05:27] – Risk assessment for the public and pandemic risk
• [06:20–06:35] – Concern level and what would trigger a change
• [07:36–08:29] – Details on flight exposures, contact tracing, and quarantine
• [08:30–08:54] – Symptoms and guidance for the public
• [09:54–11:17] – Quarantine strategy and its rationale
• [14:17–15:06] – Assessment of public health response (WHO vs CDC)
• [16:18–16:49] – US–WHO cooperation despite formal withdrawal
• [17:02–17:24] – Everyday precautions and the importance of information hygiene
• [18:07–18:37] – Ebola comparison and reassurance about containment
• [19:17–19:51] – What’s next and expectation for turning point

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Actionable Takeaways

• You are not at risk unless you had close contact with someone from the cruise ship.
• No need to change travel or daily plans.
• Share only verified public health information.
• Contact your doctor if you have symptoms AND known exposure; otherwise, do not worry about hantavirus.
• Watch the calendar: key developments should become clearer by May 18th.

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Episode in a Sentence

A rare and deadly cruise ship hantavirus outbreak has been met with swift international coordination and robust monitoring, and although headlines may cause alarm, the real risk to the general public remains exceptionally low.

Transcript

[A]

We are not dealing with COVID 19. This is not just spreading around and you could get it at Walmart, for example. I am more concerned for those passengers. This is like a movie type virus or, you know, a thriller you would read in a book.

[B]

Today is Saturday, May 16th. We want to help you fully understand the situation surrounding the hantavirus outbreak that's linked to a cruise ship. As passengers have returned to their home countries, including here in the US There are a lot of questions about what comes next and what the actual risk is to the general public. So joining me to explain all about this virus is Dr. Caitlin Jettalina. She's an epidemiologist and one of the nation's leading scientific communicators. She's behind the widely read public health newsletter, your local epidemiologist. She's also an adjunct professor at the Yale School of Public Health, a former advisor to three CDC directors and has been a time 100 most influential people in health. Today. She helps us understand what makes this virus unique and pretty scary, how experts are working to contain it and why. She says the risk to the general public is still very low. She also shares what would change her level of concern and what we're waiting on right now before taking a big sigh of relief. Welcome to the Newsworthy special edition Saturday. When we sit down with a different expert or celebrity every Saturday to talk about something in the news. Don't forget to tune in every Monday through Friday for our regular episodes where we provide all the day's news in less than 15 minutes. I'm Erica Mandy. It's now time for today's Special edition Saturday. Dr. Caitlin Jettalina, thank you so much for joining us here on the Newsworthy.

[A]

Thank you for having me.

[B]

So before we get into all the facts, I'm curious to get your take just on the rarity of this situation because I know I've heard you say that it would not be in what the top 100 outbreaks on a cruise ship you would have expected.

[A]

No, no, this is not something we would have expected in a long run. But this is what viruses do. They surprise us. And that's why it's so important to have systems in place, experts ready, response teams and to lead with humility. So no, I would never expect this. Hantavirus does have cases here and there every single year. But a large outbreak like this involving multiple countries is certainly not normal.

[B]

And yeah, as you said, America has had hantavirus before, but this strain is a little bit different than the one we've had in the US before. Right. So can you explain that and why it's a little bit more of a concern?

[A]

That's right. So hantavirus is a family of viruses and so we have one type in the United States and how people sometimes get that is through rodent droppings, when they are aerosolized, when they're like cleaning out a barn and then it comes into their system and latches on. The interesting thing about this hantavirus outbreak on the cruise ship is it's from the Andes strain and it's unique compared to all the other hantaviruses because it can spread person to person.

[B]

And there's really two things that I think stand out to me at least about this virus is one, how deadly it can be and two, how long the incubation period is. So can you provide some context on those two things specifically?

[A]

That's a nasty thing about this virus is one that yeah, the case mortality rate is 30 to 40%. Like you don't wanna mess with this virus.

[B]

It is, I mean, what's a typical, what's the flu as a comparison?

[A]

0.15%. I mean we are dealing with a very deadly virus and you don't wanna mess with it. And it makes it really scary. This is like a movie type virus or you know, a thriller you would read in a book. The other really nasty thing about this virus is what you said is the incubation period. So the time that someone gets exposed, which means the virus enters your body, it takes a long time for that virus to latch on, start replicating and start creating symptoms. And that incubation period is 43 days. Which means that someone on this ship could have been exposed in the beginning of April and they still may get infected from that one exposure. And so it does take a long time to know whether someone really is in the clear or not.

[B]

And that means potential quarantining is a really long time too. And it's mentally, I'm sure, very nerve wracking.

[A]

I couldn't imagine being on that. I, I think I would lose my mind. I would need a Xanax like that. That would just get to you. So, yeah, I think that there's a lot of fear, and rightfully so, from those passengers. And you're right, it means that quarantining and isolating for a long time is necessary, but also very feasibly challenging because people have jobs and kids need to get to school. Yeah, and so it is, it's a very challenging situation and very unique situation as well.

[B]

And we'll talk a little bit more about the response in a moment. But I think the big question a lot of people have is what is truly the risk to the wider public right now and even the risk of another pandemic?

[A]

So the risk to an individual that's not on that ship, right, or hasn't been exposed to a sick person is close to zero. We are not dealing with COVID 19. This is not just spreading around, and you could get it at Walmart, for example. And so I take solace in that. The other thing is that the risk of a pandemic is very, very low, and that's because of the VI virus we're dealing with. One, we know this virus. We've contained it in the past. Two, it doesn't seem like it's as contagious as some viruses. It doesn't look like it spreads asymptomatically, and it looks like you need pretty close contact, whatever you want to define as close contact. And all of those factors are really helping the scientists and response teams get this and keep this under control.

[B]

I'm curious to get your level of concern or even level of panic about this and what could potentially change that as we watch what happens next.

[A]

So on a scale from 0 to 10, I'm at about a 1 right now.

[B]

Really?

[A]

That's it. I am not concerned that this is gonna turn into a bigger outbreak. I'm definitely not concerned this is gonna turn into a pandemic. I am more concerned, very concerned for those passengers that were on the cruise ship, and we'll see what happens with them. What would change my mind is if we see a case that pops up that didn't have contact with this cruise ship and didn't have contact with any of these passengers. So, for example, a random flight attendant would get me really nervous, or another healthcare worker where we don't know those chains of transmission. That's a very big red flag in epidemiology. So. But we haven't had that yet, and I don't think we're gonna have that. But we'll see as this, this unfolds, this is unfolding rapidly, and there's a. There's some uncertainty around it, too.

[B]

What about somebody who wasn't on the cruise ship, but maybe was just on the same flight or did come in contact with somebody who was a passenger, you know, last month? How concerning is that? Because even in my mind, it's like, oh, well, if I took a flight, was there a chance, you know, that I ran into this person and didn't know. And so it does feel a little bit scary from that perspective.

[A]

It does feel a little scary, and I get that too. So beyond the, what is it, 25 people that came from, directly from the ship, we have about 20 other people that are being closely monitored by state and local health department officials that were on the flight from some of these people from the cruise ship that departed early, before we knew this was an outbreak. And CDC is using, honestly, quite a liberal definition on who's under quarantine. It's people within two rows of that person on the airplane. And all of those people know they were in those two rows. They're all in contact with the state and health departments, to my knowledge. They're very much all cooperating and taking this very seriously. And so if you were not contacted, you were not on that plane with these people, and the risk is still very, very low.

[B]

What are the symptoms of hantavirus that people should be aware of? And then if they have those symptoms that maybe feel like the flu or a cold. At this point, there's no reason to think you have hantavirus unless you were in contact with a cruise passenger, correct?

[A]

Absolutely. So hantavirus feels a lot like the flu in the beginning, right? You have a fever, you have body chills, but then there's rapid deterioration, a drop in blood pressure, respiratory distress and death. You die very quickly, actually from hantavirus. And so if you have flu like symptoms and you have no prior history of being in contact with these cruise passengers, my first reaction is you have something else. You, you do not have hantavirus. But always call your physician, always call your clinical care team. They're there to answer your questions and can ultimately decide how to test to understand what is causing those symptoms.

[B]

What's your take on some of the passengers who are not showing symptoms and not testing positive? Being allowed to isolate at home, which is my understanding is the latest plan after a few days of quarantine, that was a little surprising to me. Instead of other countries who, my understanding, are keeping them quarantined for the full, let's say 43 days, 42 days. Does that concern you at all or do you think that's an appropriate response?

[A]

Yeah, there is a big debate on this and a lot of people disagree with this move is to give these passengers that don't have symptoms and are testing positive the choice to stay at home or the choice to stay at the Nebraska Quarantine Center. And what I keep grounding myself in is I think the best option is the least restrictive approach that keeps communities safe. And the public health goal here is to reduce the risk to the passenger and the community. And to do this, the most important thing is not necessarily where they are, but that they are being monitored daily, that they remain quarantined and they have access to an appropriate hospital if they get sick. It doesn't seem like any individual has made a decision to go home. I've heard a few individuals have decided to stay in Nebraska for the entire 43 days. But I also want to ground ourselves in that these people have been through a cruise from hell, like just a nightmare. And there's a real psychological toll to that and there's a balance and there's some trade offs here and it's a hard call to make. And so right now they're still given that that decision, it could be changed in the future if there's enough pressure. But we'll see what ultimately plays out.

[B]

Still ahead, how public health officials are responding across multiple countries and why. Dr. Jetalina says the response has been both reassuring and disappointing. I also ask her if there's anything we should or shouldn't be doing when it comes to our own daily lives and travel plans. And she shares why as soon as next week could mark a turning point in this outbreak. That and more coming up. But first, a break for our sponsors. One of the reasons I went with a Birch natural mattress is because we spend a lot of time in our bed sleeping. So I need to know I'm sleeping on natural materials and that ensure I avoid harmful off gassing that can happen in the manufacturing process. And I have that peace of mind with my Birch mattress. It's made with organic raw materials sourced straight from nature which are both comfortable and durable. Yes, you get it all with Birch mattress. Stylish, comfortable and crafted with responsibly sourced materials. The Birch lineup includes the original well loved Birch natural mattress which is the one I have and love. But there's also the premium upgrade option, the Birch Luxe Natural mattress. And next time we need to upgrade my son's mattress, I'll definitely be looking at the Birch Kids Natural Mattress. And listen, Birch offers a 120 night risk free trial to see how your body adjusts. I want all my listeners to enjoy a deep restful night's sleep with a new mattress from birch. Go to birchliving.com newsworthy for 27% off site wide. That's exclusive. For the newsworthy listeners, that's birchliving.com newsworthy and get 27% off site wide birchliving.com newsworthy the newsworthy is also brought to you by Rosetta Stone Learning a new skill as an adult can be challenging. It's easy to lose focus and motivation or get overwhelmed without the right support. I've been there. But that's why Rosetta Stone Sapphire gives you everything you need to learn a new language in one easy to use app, structured lessons, conversation, practice, pronunciation tools, personalized feedback and comprehensive vocabulary building. Plus because Rosetta Stone Sapphire connects to your personal interests, keeps you coming back for more, and is more useful in real life too. Rosetta Stone has helped millions learn languages for over 30 years now, combining that experience and proven immersion method with the latest innovation in technology to help you learn faster, personalize your lessons and have more fun along the way. So if you want to take your language skills to the next level, don't wait to try Rosetta Stone Sapphire. The Newsworthy listeners can get 20% off their Rosetta Stone Sapphire subscription when they sign up today. You'll get unlimited access to all 25 Rosetta Stone languages plus all the new Sapphire learning tools. Visit Rosetta Stone.com Newsworthy to redeem your 20% off. That's RosettaStone.com Newsworthy and start learning a language for real. Okay, now back to my conversation with epidemiologist Caitlin Gentlina and what's your take? Just generally on the response from the and public health officials in general.

[A]

The WHO has been absolutely stellar. I have been so impressed with them and there's a number of reasons for this. They have had to coordinate across multiple countries. This is like their bread and butter. They've had incredibly great public briefings. They've had very swiftness of contact or tracing and testing. And they've had a lot of success of approaching this with deep empathy and humanity and realizing that a lot the fear and anxiety is from COVID and from low trust environments in the United States. I will say that public health scientists are on this. CDC scientists stood up an emergency operations center. They are coordinating with the WHO states, have activated and are doing contact tracing and coordination. And this is exactly what we train for, right? These guys are working incredibly hard. But I think it's really important to realize they're working hard under very difficult circumstances. Significant funding cuts, a workforce that's lost about a third of their people. Research on hantavirus was halted these past 14 months and these institutions are just under enormous strain. I do have major questions for CDC leadership and the administration, particularly around their lack and delay of communication. They didn't alert physicians of what was going on in a timely manner. There was almost zero communication with the public for about a week. Very few updates on their website. They finally had a press briefing earlier this week. And communication is key in confidence and transparency and accountability. And I've been really, really quite disappointed with how things have played out.

[B]

The US Actually left the World Health Organization officially, but it sounds like they are still working with them anyway.

[A]

Right. So we left the WHO officially a few months ago, and that is not a good thing for coordination and communication. But with this outbreak specifically and a few other instances in this past year, teams have gotten an exemption. And so from pretty early on, the global migration team over at CDC was in close contact with who. They were able to talk to them. But, yeah, this is a reminder that diseases don't see borders.

[B]

Is there anything you think listeners should not do or should do because of this? You know, for example, don't travel to certain places, wear a mask again on an airplane or anything like that because of this situation?

[A]

There is an understandable response right now that people want to take action. And I think that's actually a silver lining of the pandemic, that people knew they could do something to protect themselves and have a lot of agency in it. But right now the risk is so, so, so low that there's really nothing you need to do, like still go on your vacation, you know, still enjoy, enjoy going to the airport. I don't know if that's an oxymoron, but like, I'm not thinking twice about it. And I think that people still should really enjoy their travel. The most important thing people can do right now, though, is help spread accurate information. And this means triple checking sources, not spreading unverified rumors, and then do share reputable and verified information. The WHO is all on top of communications on social media. Local health departments are also releasing press releases. And there's a lot of reputable public health leaders out there also trying to navigate and bring people along for this scientific discovery ride.

[B]

I did want to ask, would you make any comparisons to Ebola years ago?

[A]

Ebola is a very different disease. So you see one outbreak, you see one outbreak. But you know, Ebola is a pathogen of high consequence, a very high mortality rate, a lot like hantavirus. You don't want to mess with Ebola. Ebola got big over in West Africa for a lot of cultural reasons as well as a lot of lack of knowledge. The only comparison I think I would make with Ebola is when all these guys on TV Wearing these big old suits around the quarantine. I mean, that looks like a familiar scene, but also that we may have a case in the United States like we had with Ebola. We had a patient in Dallas. We may have a case of hantavirus. We're tracking 40 people and odds are maybe there is one. But just like Ebola, we're on top of the response right now. A lot of scientists in the background are working really hard to contain this, and I'm very hopeful it will be contained in short time.

[B]

And what are you expecting next or at least watching for the most as this develops?

[A]

The clock is ticking, you know, so I'm really looking at the calendar. I think it's May 18th next week when we start really sighing some relief because a lot of the last exposure has been for a while now. I think the last exposure was the middle of April. And so right now it's literally just waiting for biology to play out and watching how these people are doing, closely monitoring them, and we are at the mercy of time.

[B]

A quick note here. After our interview, we reached out to the CDC about Jetalina's criticism of the delay in communication. Early on in the agency's response, the CDC pushed back strongly, saying her claims are completely inaccurate. A spokesperson told us the response has been coordinated across the federal government, saying the CDC has activated its emergency operations center, deployed medical teams, alerted state health department, sent guidance to clinicians and released a public toolkit about the outbreak. We'll include that full statement in today's Episode notes on theneworthy.com thank you so much for listening today and thank you to our guest epidemiologist, Caitlin Jettalina. You can get ongoing information directly from her through her substack and newsletter called you'd Local Epidemiologist. And if you found this episode helpful, we hope you'll share it as a source of reputable information. Let us know if you have more questions. We'll be continuing to cover developments about this story in our regular daily news roundups along with all the other news you need in less than 15 minutes each weekday. So we'll be back on Monday with the latest news. Until then, have a great rest of your weekend.