The Decibel - A reality check on hantavirus risk in Canada

Episode Date: May 13, 2026

This month, the World Health Organization linked a hantavirus outbreak to a cruise ship in the south Atlantic. Since the outbreak, three people have died from the virus and nine people have been confirmed to be infected with it. 10 Canadians who have been exposed to the virus have returned to Canada and are quarantining. To some, there are familiar anxieties about how widespread the outbreak could be, coloured by memories of the COVID pandemic. But health officials have said that hantavirus is different from COVID. One of the Globe’s health reporters, Kristy Kirkup has been following the story. She’s here to explain what hantavirus is, how health officials are handling the outbreak and to give a reality check on the risk to the public. Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at [e-mail] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You've probably heard about the hauntavirus outbreak that started on a cruise ship in the South Atlantic. Let me catch you up on what's been going on. World Health Organization officials believe it all started on April 1st, with a Dutch couple who boarded the M.V. Hondias in southern Argentina. The 70-year-old man became ill and died on the ship on April 11th. His 69-year-old wife also got sick and left the ship two weeks later and flew to Johannesburg. She died there on April 26th. It took until early May for WHO officials to make a connection to hauntavirus.

And by that time, several people had gotten sick. Another passenger, a German national, also died. There are now nine people confirmed to be infected with hauntavirus as a result of that outbreak. And there are others who have been exposed, including 10 Canadians. They are now quarantining, as our passengers. from several other countries. For a lot of people, this story might bring up the kind of anxiety they felt around the start of the COVID pandemic. But Haunta virus is different from COVID.

So today, we're going to talk to Christy Kirkup. She's a health reporter for the globe. She's going to tell us about this virus, how public health officials are dealing with the people quarantining in Canada, and why they say the risk to the public is low. I'm Cheryl Sutherland. I'm Cheryl Sutherland, and this is the decibel from the Globe and Mail. Hi, Christy. Thank you so much for joining me today.

Thanks for having me, Cheryl. So I think by now people have heard about this hauntavirus outbreak. And, Christy, you're going to help us understand where things are right now with the containment. But let's start with the basics. What exactly is hauntavirus? So, Cheryl, the World Health Organization says that hanta virus infections are primarily acquired through contact with urine. feces or saliva of infected rodents. They do say that this is rare, but it can cause severe disease that can be deadly. And it can also lead to human transmission, which has been reported in previous

outbreaks that involve what's called the Andes Strain. And that is what we're talking about this instance with respect to what happened on the cruise ship. It was an outbreak of the Andes strain of the hauntivirus. So that, in a nutshell, is a... what we are talking about. Okay, so a couple of things to make note of that you just mentioned to us here. One is that as rodents, and just to say that it's not all rodents that carry this virus, correct? Yeah, so this is, if we're talking about the Andes Strain, infectious disease experts have pointed to the fact that this has primarily been an issue in South America. and they believe that someone on the cruise ship came into contact with the Andes strain of the virus that subsequently led to the outbreak on the cruise ship.

I think an important distinction when we're talking about the haunt of virus is really that, again, we're drawing this from infectious disease experts, but the kind of key difference with something like the haunt of virus versus something like COVID is that it tends to require what's called prolonged exposure. So that's really why, for example, when there has been, you know, people who have become infected on the cruise ship, we're seeing it, for example, with respect to couples, because that would involve, you know, kind of intimate, prolonged exposure to someone, as opposed to something like measles, where it can actually stay in the air for two hours after an infected person leaves the space.

So the strain we're talking about the Andy strain is an important distinction here because it's the hantavirus that is known to spread person to person, right? Whereas the other strains don't spread person to person. Can you talk about, you know, how exactly this strain does spread? Yeah, so we talked about the rodent factor with respect to this strain and the fact that really this has been spread by rodents in South America. and then less commonly so by other infected people. We talked about the fact that this can cause serious respiratory disease in some people. There's something that's called the hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, for example. And the main point being that it usually is limited to people who have close contact with a sick individual. And we're talking direct physical contact that takes place.

over a, you know, long period of time in enclosed spaces and exposure to really like a sick individual's bodily fluids. It can start off with flu-like symptoms, you know, things like fatigue and fever and muscle aches. And for some patients, again, it can become much more serious in nature, requiring that those individuals may have to go to hospital to seek care. Yeah, and I mean, in this outbreak, there's been three deaths, and I understand that the fatality rate for hauntavirus is quite high, right? Yeah, so we do know that, again, with respect to, for example, the hontovirus pulmonary syndrome, which, again, not everyone would develop a severe disease like that. But that can involve, for example, the lungs filling with fluid. someone might be experiencing tightness in the chest and that we know that this is fatal in about 35% of people.

So obviously, you know, that's very important to note. There's also a kind of fever that can develop with renal syndrome, which can lead to things like bleeding and a high fever, even kidney failure. And this can develop in some cases about a week or two after an exposure. and we understand that this is fatal in about 1 to 15% of patients. So again, it is still deemed to be a rare virus, but one that does carry serious consequences for some patients. And obviously, as demonstrated with respect to the cruise ship, you know, some people did lose their lives as a result of contracting the Andy's strain of

Honto virus. What about treatment for Honta virus? What do we know about that? So, Cheryl, there is no antiviral that is available to treat the Hanta virus. So there have been efforts, for example, by different scientists to try and work on a vaccine. And by the way, this has been underway for, in some cases, a long time. But there is not a vaccine available. And so really treatment would involve, you know, if there were to be severe symptoms,

that a person would need to go to hospital, for example, they may need to go into an intensive care unit and have help with things like their breathing. But at this time, again, there is no antiviral or vaccine that is available for the hauntavirus. I do want to focus in on what's going on in Canada and the people that are quarantining here. How many Canadians were exposed

and what do we know about where they were exposed? Can you just break down exactly, the Canadians that are involved here and how they got exposed to it? Yeah, so we're talking about 10 Canadians, so to kind of break it down into the respective groups. So we know that there are two people that are from Ontario who were on the cruise ship. They would be considered to be exposed, you know, on the ship and plane. There was a person from Quebec as well, exposed on a plane from St. Helena to Johannesburg. Again, so those individuals back in Canada now self-isolating. Then there were two individuals from Alberta exposed on the plane from Johannesburg to Amsterdam

and an additional person from Ontario believed to be exposed on a plane from Johannesburg to Amsterdam. And then an additional four individuals who have gone to British Columbia now, believe to be exposed on the cruise ship who returned to BC as of Sunday. We'll be right back. So we're talking about Canadians here who are exposed. There is no known Canadian that has actually contracted a countervirus. And just to be clear, and please tell me if I'm wrong here, but it does sound like for the first six people who are now quarantining,

they came back on their own and they may not have known that they were exposed. is there any concern about inadvertent spread from all the people that left the ship before all these safety protocols were in place? Yeah, I think the main consideration right now is what could the different tentacles from this cruise ship be? And again, not only with respect to the Canadians, but others who were on board the ship. Again, when it comes to the haunt of virus, this kind of main point being made about like needing to have prolonged exposure being exposed to someone's bodily fluids, for example.

Our brains sometimes go back to that. Again, not in any way to minimize this, but, you know, we go back in our brains to what it was like during COVID or the advice that we received with respect to masking and physical distancing, which, by the way, again, these types of public health measures are being brought up in the context of the hanta virus. But the major point, And I think that's kind of the key message, if you will, that, you know, we've certainly heard from the World Health Organization, from the Public Health Agency of Canada, based on their risk assessment, they believe that the risk to Canadians of further spread does remain low at this time. And it's so important. Someone said this when they were speaking to me the other day about the hauntavirus. Cheryl and I find myself almost deploying some of this language right now with you because they're like, what I said.

is time stamped to this moment because, again, with anything with respect to the spread of infectious disease or with respect to public health. And I certainly think we draw that even from our reporting during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic that things can evolve. But again, the risk assessment being that at this time, the risk of further spread does remain low that these Canadians are back in the country. They have been asked to self-isolate. isolate, to monitor for symptoms, that there's, you know, interaction with these individuals on a daily basis, in fact, to check in with them, to see how they're doing. And because there's a thought to be a long incubation period with the hauntavirus that they have been instructed to

obviously isolate for at least 21 days. And there will obviously be, again, conversations ongoing with these individuals. They may have to self-isolate a lot. longer than that, depending on how things evolve for them. But, you know, the main key message, you know, no one's saying, don't panic, but that's what I really draw from the official line is that Canada remains confident that steps have been taken to keep this under control and that people are self-isolating. So I guess we'll wait and see. So these 10 people are now back in the country in different parts of the country. You mentioned, you mentioned. You that some will be isolating for 21 days, but it sounds like it's different in various parts

of the country. Can you talk a bit about that and why that might be? Health is provincial in nature, right, in terms of like the rollout of the delivery of health. And so there's going to be, you know, public health officials in the prospective areas where these Canadians are that are working with individuals and they're, you know, going to be following the specific protocol from, you know, again, the people in Ontario will be following the advice from, you know, public health officials in Ontario versus something like British Columbia. I think the overarching thinking, again, is similar in nature, which is, you know, there is thought to be this longer incubation period. Certainly there is a message that they need to err on the side of caution.

You know, people will be following the instructions of the public health officials in their respective jurisdictions, and that that's, of course, what they're being encouraged to do. Yeah. Okay. So, so, I mean, what you've laid out, and what we've kind of understood around this outbreak is that it is, it seems to be at this point contained, people are isolating in various countries. But there is a risk to the general public with hanta virus in Canada, right? There's a different strain. But I think that now that there is kind of this awareness around this virus, can we talk a little bit about what precautions people should be taking here in Canada? Yeah, I think, again, all those kind of like key,

public health pieces of advice about that distinguishing factor, right, in terms of the hauntavirus in Canada. The and these strain really being connected to rodents in South America, not, you know, again, the Canadians who are exposed to that particular strain, having to self-isolate and having to hear from public health officials. But, you know, again, just like kind of being mindful if for, again, I want to be careful and specific, but for example, if you were to be, needing to clean up, for example, some rodent droppings that, you know, I'm not in any way suggesting, you know, that that that is curing the Andy's strain. But we do know that haunt of virus, you know, is an issue. And so, again, it's taking those precautions of, you know,

making sure that you're disinfecting things and handling it carefully. And so it's maybe, I think, easy for people to hear these things and maybe want to spiral and worry about it. But again, kind of that kind of key piece of advice of, you know, make sure that you are handling those types of things carefully, making sure you're taking, you know, wearing gloves, for example, just being careful and trying to keep yourself well. Yeah, because what I understand is that the the haunter virus that is in Canada is that the Sinombre is the name of the strain. And it's usually coming from deer mice. So, I mean, of course, people who have caused cottages or sheds or even basements that might have rodent feces in there.

There just as something, I mean, for me, like, I didn't even think about if you're sweeping up some sort of mouse feces that it could aerosolize, right? So there is just things you can do, like wearing a mask, wearing gloves, and that could actually help to, you know, protect yourself. For sure. So let's talk about what's going on now when it comes to this hauntavirus outbreak. What should we be watching for at this point? You know, I think at this point we'll be waiting to see really what happens to these Canadians who have come back. And, you know, again, with the incubation period being as long as it is to see if any of these individuals do develop symptoms and watching to see whether there's any further spread of the Andes strain in Canada.

again, we talked about the fact that we've been told the risk remains low, but we have to watch to see how this is all going to evolve in real time. And we'll be waiting, obviously, to hear ongoing updates with respect to, for example, people who got off the cruise ship in other parts of the world. There's obviously a key international aspect of this as well. And I think, you know, continuing to watch for if there's further news, for example, from the post. Public Health Agency of Canada. They, of course, held a briefing at the end of last week. And there have been, for example, Bonnie Henry in British Columbia at the level of public health was providing a forward-facing public briefing as of Monday.

So, again, we'll be waiting to hear from those key public health officials just about, you know, the state of affairs, if you will. And so I'm just kind of trying to remind myself, you know, well, you know, we're kind of collecting the information as it is available. And this is certainly a story with those international ties and one that will be progressing. And so we'll see, I guess, how successful really the containment effort was to prevent the further spread of this strain of the virus. Okay. So that's a good thing to know what to be watching out for. I mean, I think that we should probably end by asking you, Christy, how worried people should be right now?

Yeah, I think it's a totally fair question. And, you know, we talked about the fact that, you know, as of this moment right now, kind of time stamping our conversation, Cheryl, but really the central message from, you know, experts in disease prevention and control is that, again, you know, we're really talking about the low risk of exposure. But at the end of the day, you know, that this is something. something. I talked to Isaac Bogosh, for example, who was very, you know, public facing during the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, as an infectious disease expert. And he kind of, I know, for example, some people might be going on cruise ships and they may be scared or wondering about the haunt of virus. And to that question, Dr. Bogosh was talking about the fact that, you know, really, again, there are these other viruses like the norovirus that people can get. Again, when They are, you know, amongst a lot of other people and breathing in the air and touching utensils and whatnot. So kind of just reminding people, there are other viruses out there to take the precautions that you and I have talked about, Cheryl.

Public health officials don't phrase it quite like this, but, you know, at this very moment, Cheryl, you know, I think the key takeaway is that we shouldn't be too freaked out about this. But those caveats apply, which is as of the time we're having this conversation and we'll wait and see what happens next. Christy, thank you so much. Thank you. That was Christy Kirkup, the Globe's National Health Reporter. That's it for today. I'm Cheryl Sutherland.

Our associate producer and intern is Cynthia Jimenez. Our producers are Madeline White, Rachel Leading McLaughlin and Mikhail Stein. Our editor is David Crosby. Adrian Chung is our senior producer, and Angela Pichenza is our executive executive. editor. Thanks so much for listening.