There's something going on with the hantavirus, and we want to keep an eye on it to see what the so-called experts are saying today, just in case this becomes COVID Pandemic 2.0. It started on the MV Hondius, an international cruise ship, where three people died of the virus, and five additional cases were suspected.
Hantavirus was in the news briefly early last year, after we learned that Betsy Arakawa, wife of actor Gene Hackman, died of the disease at their New Mexico home. Her body and the body of Hackman were found at the home back in March 2025. Autopsies show Arakawa died of the virus first, and that Hackman died of complications of heart disease about a week later.
But now it seems cases are popping up elsewhere, including in a flight attendant who had contact with a woman who died of the virus in Johannesburg.
BREAKING: Flight attendant hospitalized with mild symptoms in the Netherlands; had contact with woman who died of hantavirus in Johannesburg - RTL
— BNO News (@BNOFeed) May 7, 2026
While the hantavirus is a rare disease transmitted by rodents, the Andes strain is apparently transmissible between humans.
Even with the ability to transfer from human to human it requires close contact, as in the attendant offered direct aid to the sick passenger.
— R C Taylor (@littlenewsnetwk) May 7, 2026
The ability for that Andes version to spread is very low with a R0 listed as below 1. That means each sick person infects no more than 1… pic.twitter.com/A1yYk2ZFPz
This is how the COVID pandemic started, and we all know how that played out.
They're trying so hard to create fear. https://t.co/BlDrNenghx
— Catturd ™ (@catturd2) May 7, 2026
Right now, the WHO is saying the global risk is low.
🚨 JUST NOW: Even the WHO is admitting that Hantavirus is NOT the "next coronavirus" after a cruise ship outbreak
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 7, 2026
NO LOCKDOWNS, EVER!
We won't listen to the globalists regardless of WHAT they say.
America has left the WHO. They have no authority! pic.twitter.com/ilQLWEYPw0
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"This is not coronavirus," said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove. "This is a very different virus. We know this virus. Hantaviruses have been around for quite a while, there's a lot of detail that we know."
"But I want to be unequivocal here: this is not SARS-CoV-2. This is not the start of a COVID pandemic. This is an outbreak that we see on a ship," Van Kerkhove continued, "there's a confined area. We have five confirmed cases so far. We completely understand why these questions are coming, and we're trying to provide all of the information that we can. That's why we're having a press conference here, to give accurate information and we're grateful for all of those out there who are asking these types of questions."
"This is not the same situation we were in six years ago," she said. "It doesn't spread the same way, like coronaviruses do. It's that very close, intimate contact that we've seen. And most hantaviruses don't transmit between people at all. Most hantaviruses are transmitted from rodents and their feces or their saliva or their droppings to people. And only this one particular virus, the Andes virus, which has been identified here, we've seen something in human transmission."
"And again I want to reiterate the actions that are being taken on board are precautionary to prevent any onboard spread. And so there's a lot that is being done right now to be able to try to minimize the risk even further," Van Kerkhove added.
Nope! We ain't doing this s**t again 😭 pic.twitter.com/C49ZDeCQhF
— Definitely Not Stoned (@downlowfarming) May 7, 2026
But we don't trust the WHO at all.
NO LOCKDOWNS is the right instinct. But the real lesson is how fast these bureaucrats and media hacks try to turn every outbreak into a power grab. Trust was blown to hell in 2020. They did that.
— rowdyamerican (@rowdyamerican69) May 7, 2026
No lockdowns. No mandatory masking. We're done.
They blew that with COVID.
The timing of hantavirus has been strangely perfect.
— Brad Parscale (@parscale) May 7, 2026
First, the Supreme Court overturned race based congressional districts, and Republican states are proposing favorable congressional maps.
Then we saw that single video of the scared passenger.
Then we started seeing tons of… https://t.co/13kzY6b8jk
We can't blame anyone for thinking this.
Only time will tell if the WHO is telling the truth now, or if the experts will change their opinion and try to push lockdowns, social distancing, and other restrictions on us again.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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