Hantavirus Global Situational Briefing — June 9, 2026

The MV Hondius cluster enters its 14th consecutive day without a new infection, and the first monitoring-period exits begin to close cleanly. Two Texas residents who left the ship before the outbreak was declared completed their 42-day surveillance on June 8 with no symptoms — the first formal completion of a US home-monitoring case. In Panama, unrelated endemic transmission killed a 42-year-old farmer in Montijo, Veraguas, making it the country's first hantavirus death of 2026. Argentina's joint survey in Malargüe enters Day 2; Spain's second patient remains at UATAN with a persistent low-grade fever. France's ECMO patient has been silent for 12 days.

Two Texas residents who disembarked from MV Hondius in the Canary Islands on May 10 — before the outbreak had been formally confirmed — completed their 42-day public health monitoring period on June 8 with no signs of infection 1. Dr. Varun Shetty, Texas State Epidemiologist, thanked both residents for cooperating throughout the period and acknowledged the public health workers who managed the daily monitoring visits.

The two Texans were among a cohort who had left the ship earlier than the 18 passengers later concentrated at Nebraska's National Quarantine Unit; they quarantined at home under twice-daily check-ins from local health officials. Their clean exit marks the first formally completed home-monitoring case in the US cluster response.

The 13 passengers still at the NQU in Omaha remain under round-the-clock state surveillance with a June 22 endpoint. Dr. Stephen Kornfeld (Bend, Oregon), who returned home on June 1, reaches his monitoring end on June 21 2.

Panama's Ministry of Health (MINSA) confirmed the country's first hantavirus fatality of 2026: a 42-year-old man conducting agricultural activities on a farm in the district of Montijo, Veraguas province, died on May 27 3. As of the ministry's June 7 update, Panama has recorded 18 hantavirus cases in 2026 — nine cardiopulmonary syndrome and nine fever cases — a total consistent with historical endemic patterns in the country.

Authorities confirmed the presence of the transmitting rodent (the Cricetidae long-tailed rat) in the Montijo area and identified a second patient under investigation: a close contact who had previous contact with a 19-year-old woman earlier affected by the disease 3. MINSA health teams conducted field visits, school inspections, and community outreach in Montijo to reinforce rodent-control measures.

The strain circulating in Panama is the Choclo variant, which does not transmit person-to-person — distinct from the Andes virus behind the MV Hondius cluster 3. Between 2000 and 2025, Panama logged 450 hantavirus cases and 62 deaths, a case-fatality rate of 13.5%, with the heaviest burden historically in Veraguas, Los Santos, and Herrera.

The joint Argentina-US CDC rodent survey in Malargüe, Mendoza entered its second day on June 9 4. ANLIS Malbrán and CDC scientists are trapping rodents and collecting blood samples for analysis in Buenos Aires; preliminary results are weeks away, with full results expected approximately one month from the survey's June 8 launch.

The Malargüe region was selected after ANLIS Malbrán confirmed that the Dutch couple — index cases in the MV Hondius cluster — traveled through the Mendoza wine region on their way north to Misiones before returning south to board the ship in Ushuaia. The survey runs through June 12.

The earlier batch of more than 100 rodents trapped around Ushuaia and in Tierra del Fuego National Park in May remains under analysis; results are expected mid-June. Tierra del Fuego has recorded no hantavirus cases in 30 years of mandatory surveillance, according to Malbrán head Claudia Perandones 4.

The MV Hondius cluster holds at 13 (11 confirmed, 2 probable) and 3 deaths as of June 9 5. No new cases have been reported since May 26, making today the 14th consecutive clear day. The three deaths remain unchanged since May 2.

Spain: Case 2 (non-elderly adult, Gómez Ulla UATAN) continues to run a persistent low-grade fever (febrícula) and remains hospitalized; discharge criteria require three consecutive asymptomatic days and two negative PCRs 6. Case 1 (70-year-old, discharged ~June 4–5) is the cluster's first documented recovery. All 12 Spanish asymptomatic contacts cleared Gómez Ulla on June 7 and entered 14-day home isolation; five Catalan residents were transferred home by the Generalitat 7.

France: The 65-year-old woman on ECMO at Hôpital Bichat AP-HP enters approximately her 33rd day of ECMO, with no public clinical update since May 28 — now 12 days of public silence. All 26 French contacts remain in mandatory hospital isolation; all have consistently tested PCR-negative.

United Kingdom: All British nationals from the MV Hondius have now returned to the UK, according to a BMJ report published June 8 8. UKHSA reduced the UK self-isolation period from 45 to 42 days on June 2, in line with WHO guidance, and bolstered treatment stocks with favipiravir supplied through Japan 5.

Netherlands: No new cases; 1 Dutch crew member who tested positive on May 22 in Dutch quarantine was hospitalised as a precaution; the vessel was cleared by GGD Rotterdam on May 30 9.

Canada / Switzerland / Australia: No changes. Canadian Yukon resident stable in Victoria, BC. Swiss patient (genomic sequence ~98.7% identity to 2018 Neuquén Andes strain) still hospitalised. Six MV Hondius passengers at Bullsbrook Centre, WA, remain PCR-negative 9.

The MV Hondius remains in transit from Rotterdam to Longyearbyen, Svalbard. Oceanwide Expeditions' June 13 restart — a 7-night North Spitsbergen expedition — is confirmed on schedule 10. GGD Rotterdam-Rijnmond cleared the vessel on May 30 after EWS Group completed deep cleaning of all eight decks. The 25 remaining crew and 2 RIVM medical staff were released from Dutch quarantine when the ship departed Rotterdam on June 6; all tested PCR-negative throughout quarantine.

EU favipiravir: The European Commission's emergency procurement for additional Fujifilm favipiravir tablets — beyond the 1,400 dispatched to France, Netherlands, and Spain via an EU-Japan partnership on May 28 — remains ongoing. No quantity or timeline has been publicly confirmed.

US PREP Act: HHS Secretary Kennedy's PREP Act declaration for favipiravir against Andes virus remains in force through July 18, 2026 (Federal Register doc 2026-10539) 11.

LFCM-CoP webinar (June 10): Georgetown Global Health Nigeria's Lassa Fever Clinical Management Community of Practice will hold its next session tomorrow, drawing lessons from the 2014 Ebola outbreak for current hantavirus preparedness. The virtual session opens at 10:00 AM GMT+1 12.