WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Monday that U.S. authorities are closely monitoring a hantavirus outbreak linked to a South Atlantic cruise ship, arguing that the disease is significantly more difficult to transmit than COVID-19.
Speaking during an Oval Office event, Trump said officials were taking precautions but stressed that hantavirus has long been known to public health authorities.
“It’s been around for a long time. People are very familiar with it,” Trump told reporters. “It’s much harder to catch than COVID-19. We’re very careful, and we think we’re in very good shape.”
Hantavirus is primarily carried by rodents and can cause severe illness, including fever, vomiting, diarrhea and respiratory complications. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 38% of patients who develop hantavirus pulmonary syndrome die from the disease.
The administration has faced criticism over its handling of the outbreak, but officials insisted that established public health protocols have been followed.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the situation was under control.
“We have this under control and we’re not worried about it,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy added that federal health officials had responded immediately after learning of the outbreak.
“We’ve had CDC teams on it from day one,” he said, noting that aircraft were prepared to transport affected passengers for treatment and monitoring.
According to Kennedy, two passengers were taken to facilities in Atlanta, including one who was symptomatic, while 16 others were transferred to Nebraska for observation.
The outbreak has been linked to the expedition cruise ship MV Hondius, where officials began evacuating passengers while the vessel was anchored near Spain’s Canary Islands. Among those evacuated were 17 American passengers who had remained aboard after earlier cases were identified.
Officials also rejected suggestions that the U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization had weakened the response.
Trump defended the decision, saying the WHO had mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic and arguing that the United States had not received appropriate value for its financial contributions.
Acting CDC Director Jay Bhattacharya has likewise emphasized that hantavirus does not spread in the same manner as COVID-19.
“This is not COVID,” Bhattacharya said, adding that existing hantavirus containment protocols have successfully managed previous outbreaks.
He cited the agency’s experience responding to a 2018 outbreak in Argentina as evidence that established measures can effectively limit transmission.
Unlike COVID-19, hantavirus is generally transmitted through exposure to infected rodents or their droppings, and person-to-person transmission is considered rare and limited to certain strains.
There is currently no specific cure for the disease, making early diagnosis and supportive medical care critical.
