The hantavirus alert has ceased to be a distant news item and has become a local reality in the state of Texas.
The state Department of Health Services confirmed Thursday that it is keeping under strict surveillance two residents who were part of the MV Hondius cruise ship expedition, the vessel that is now the focus of an international health emergency after recording an outbreak of the virus in the South Atlantic.
Returned before the alert: CDC’s challenge
Two Texas residents were on board a cruise ship that experienced an outbreak of the rare hantavirus, health officials confirmed.
The CDC notified the Texas Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday that the two individuals had left the MV Hondius and returned to the… pic.twitter.com/VRORzQO8Xa
– Houston Chronicle (@HoustonChron) May 7, 2026
What is most troubling about the case is that both passengers disembarked and flew back to the United States before the outbreak was officially identified on the vessel.
It was thanks to the traceability of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that his whereabouts in Texas were traced in order to initiate emergency protocols.
So far, the news is encouraging: the two Texans have reported no symptoms and claim not to have had direct contact with sick people during their journey from Ushuaia, Argentina.
However, both have agreed to undergo daily temperature checks and to keep in constant communication with public health authorities for any signs of discomfort.
Texas joins the list of states under surveillance
Texas health authorities are keeping under surveillance two people, residents of the state, who traveled on the MV Hondius cruise ship that reported an outbreak of hantavirus while traveling in the Atlantic Ocean.https://t.co/Dmp8VpMgKm
– Joaquín López-Dóriga (@lopezdoriga) May 8, 2026
With these two cases, Texas joins a rapidly growing list in the country.
Currently, people in Georgia, Arizona and California are also being monitored for the same reasons, according to reports confirmed by The New York Times.
CDC Director Jay Bhattacharya has been emphatic that while the situation is serious, the risk to the general population remains “very low.”
“Hantavirus is not transmitted by people without symptoms,” Bhattacharya reminded, trying to calm the collective anxiety.
For the virus to pass from one person to another, extremely close contact is required, as the main route of transmission remains contact with infected rodent waste.
The MV Hondius: A cruise ship in quarantine
Breaking Texas update:
Health officials are now monitoring two passengers who were on the MV Hondius but left the ship before the hantavirus outbreak was identified. They currently have no symptoms and are self-monitoring with daily temperature checks.
This is exactly why the … https://t.co/rpkklY59La pic.twitter.com/SBfJCMbzY1
– The Last Best Hope of Earth (@TheLastHopeUSA) May 7, 2026
While the travelers are being monitored in Texas, the remaining passengers of the MV Hondius are in the Canary Islands, Spain, where the government agreed to receive the ship following a request from the WHO.
Highly complex isolations and medical evacuations are being carried out there to prevent the severe respiratory syndrome caused by the virus from claiming more victims.
What about you Onnda, do you think the authorities acted quickly enough in tracking these travelers in Texas or should the flow of passengers have been stopped earlier?
Stay informed with the most relevant health updates only in QuéOnnda.
Filed under: Hantavirus in Texas
