The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced Tuesday that it is investigating a potential case of hantavirus in a resident of Winnebago County. Officials emphasized that the case has no connection to the ongoing hantavirus outbreak linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship.
“IDPH is investigating a potential Hantavirus case in an Illinois resident not connected to the recent outbreak pertaining to the MV Hondius cruise ship. The resident lives in Winnebago County, has not travelled internationally, and has not come in contact with individuals associated with the MV Hondius outbreak,” the department announced Tuesday.
“They are suspected to have acquired a North American strain of the virus while cleaning a home where rodent droppings were present. Unlike the Andes strain of Hantavirus responsible for the cruise ship outbreak, the North American strains are not known to spread from person-to-person. The risk of contracting Hantavirus of any kind remains very low for Illinois residents.”
The individual experienced mild symptoms, did not require hospitalization, and is currently recovering. The case is believed to involve exposure to the North American strain of hantavirus, which is transmitted through contact with infected rodent droppings or urine and is not known to spread between people.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is currently performing confirmatory laboratory testing, a process that could take up to 10 days. Initial commercial laboratory results are not considered definitive, which could take up to 10 days.
Excluding this potential case, Illinois has recorded seven confirmed hantavirus cases since 1993, with the most recent occurring in March 2025. North American strains of hantavirus are only spread through contact with rodent droppings, differing from the Andes strain — the pathogen at the center of the MV Hondius outbreak — which is the only documented hantavirus strain that spreads person-to-person.
“The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has not been notified of any Illinois residents being passengers on the MV Hondius during the Hantavirus outbreak,” the IDPH emphasized in a follow-up statement.
“Patient Zero” in the cruise ship hantavirus outbreak has been identified as ornithologist Leo Schilperoord, whose passion for birds led him to a landfill in Argentina to observe birds that may have cost him his life. pic.twitter.com/voYfg4HTvG
— Leading Report (@LeadingReport) May 9, 2026
As of Tuesday, the total infections related to the MV Hondius outbreak climbed to 11. The World Health Organization and officials from national health agencies all over the globe have been scrambling to conduct contact tracing after multiple infected passengers traveled by air before the extent of the outbreak was known.
Given the significantly long incubation period for the virus — which can take several weeks — the potential for additional spread remains. Officials have stressed that the general risk to the public remains low, however.
