After Illinois officials announced on Tuesday it is investigating a possible hantavirus case in the state that is “not connected” to the widespread outbreak on a cruise ship that sparked concerns across the globe, many may be wondering how the person could have caught the virus.
The person who potentially contracted the virus, a Winnebago County resident, is “suspected to have acquired a North American strain of the virus while cleaning a home where rodent droppings were present,” the Illinois Department of Public Health said in a statement.
“The resident lives in Winnebago County, has not travelled internationally, and has not come in contact with individuals associated with the MV Hondius outbreak,” IDPH said in a statement.
Officials also stressed that the strain of hantavirus that was potentially contracted is different from the Andes virus strain associated with the outbreak on the cruise ship, adding that the North American strain of Hantavirus is not known to spread from person to person.
The CDC is still conducting additional testing to confirm the rodent is positive for hantavirus, officials said, and the test could take up to 10 days to complete.
Officials stressed the “current risk to Illinois communities remains very low” and “the rodents that carry Andes virus are not found in the United States.”
The Illinois resident is not seriously ill and is recovering after experiencing mild symptoms that did not require they be hospitalized, according to IDPH.
“Hantavirus infections are rare, but they are not new or unheard of in the U.S., including Illinois. Public health teams regularly monitor and prepare for illnesses like this,” IDPH said in a thread of information the department posted on social media about the hantavirus case in Illinois.
If confirmed, this case would be the eighth positive hantavirus case in Illinois since 1993. The most recent confirmed case was in March 2025, according to IDPH. The U.S. has recorded 890 cases of hantavirus since 1993.
