Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently asked questions about hantavirus, the MV Hondius cluster, and the HORIZON surveillance platform.
What is hantavirus?
Hantavirus is a family of rodent-borne viruses (genus Orthohantavirus, family Hantaviridae) that can cause severe disease in humans. The two main syndromes are Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), common in the Americas and caused by Sin Nombre virus and Andes virus, and Haemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome (HFRS), common in Eurasia and caused by Hantaan, Seoul, Puumala, and Dobrava-Belgrade viruses. See the hantavirus overview for the full picture.
How is hantavirus transmitted?
Most hantaviruses are transmitted from rodents to humans by inhalation of aerosolised excreta (urine, faeces, saliva). Direct rodent bites and mucous-membrane contact are documented but rare. Andes virus is the sole exception — it has documented person-to-person transmission, primarily between close household contacts. Hantaviruses are not transmitted by mosquitoes or ticks. Full breakdown on the transmission page.
What are the symptoms of hantavirus disease?
Initial symptoms appear 1 to 8 weeks after exposure: fever, severe muscle aches (myalgia), fatigue, headache, and gastrointestinal upset. In HPS, this progresses to coughing, shortness of breath, and pulmonary oedema — case-fatality 30 to 50 percent. In HFRS, patients develop kidney failure, low platelets, and bleeding — case-fatality 1 to 15 percent depending on serotype. See the full symptoms page.
Is there a vaccine or treatment for hantavirus?
South Korea licenses Hantavax for Hantaan virus. No vaccine is licensed in the EU or US. Treatment is supportive critical care — fluid management, mechanical ventilation, ECMO, and renal replacement therapy. Ribavirin shows benefit in early HFRS but not HPS. Detailed treatment information is available.
Which countries report hantavirus cases?
Cases are reported across the Americas (Argentina, Chile, Brazil, USA, Canada, Panama, Bolivia, Paraguay), Europe (Germany, Finland, Russia, Belgium, France, Balkans), east Asia (China, South Korea, Japan, Russian Far East), and parts of Africa and southeast Asia. HORIZON maintains a country-by-country page.
What is the MV Hondius hantavirus cluster?
An Andes virus cluster aboard the polar expedition cruise ship MV Hondius (IMO 9818709, MMSI 244327000, Oceanwide Expeditions, NL flag). Suspected pre-departure exposure during a wildlife excursion near Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. The cluster is being tracked by WHO, ECDC, CDC, PAHO, and Argentine Ministerio de Salud. Live timeline and ontology at /outbreaks/mv-hondius-2026.
How can I prevent hantavirus infection?
Reduce rodent populations around homes; never sweep or vacuum dry excreta (it aerosolises virus); wear an N95/FFP3 respirator and wet contaminated surfaces with 1:10 bleach before cleaning. Campers and hikers in endemic regions should avoid sleeping near rodent nests. Full evidence-based protocol on the prevention page.
What is HORIZON?
HORIZON is a live hantavirus surveillance platform operated by 79th Unit Limited (UK Companies House 17133814). It aggregates outbreak signal from WHO, US CDC, ECDC, PAHO, ProMED, national authorities, peer-reviewed literature, and open news. Every record carries audit-grade source provenance per ICD 206, NATO Admiralty Scale, dual confidence, and Berkeley Protocol chain-of-custody. All data is open under CC BY 4.0. Read the full methodology.
How accurate are the case counts?
Case counts on HORIZON come from authoritative public-health bulletins (WHO Disease Outbreak News, ECDC weekly threats reports, CDC HAN, PAHO updates, national-authority statements). News reports are stored as corroborating evidence but only auto-applied to per-country totals when a NATO A/B source or three independent corroborating sources within 48h confirm. Anti-inflation caps prevent cluster-total numbers from mis-attributing to a single country. The full audit trail per number is on the methodology page.
Can I use this data?
Yes. All HORIZON data is released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. Mirror it, scrape it, index it, train models on it. The only requirement is attribution to 79th Unit Limited. JSON endpoints: OpenAPI schema.
How is this different from CDC, WHO, or ECDC?
Those are authoritative primary sources. HORIZON is an aggregator and surveillance layer that sits on top of them — pulling in WHO/CDC/ECDC/PAHO bulletins, cross-referencing peer-reviewed literature, layering open news, and presenting a single live ontology with every claim provenance-traced. Use the primary sources for clinical or regulatory decisions; use HORIZON for situational awareness and OSINT-quality outbreak monitoring.
Why is the case count different from a news article I read?
News articles routinely conflate per-country counts with cluster totals (an NBC article saying "3 deaths" when the cluster has 3 deaths total, but the deaths occurred in Netherlands and South Africa — not the US). HORIZON resolves to per-country authoritative totals from WHO and ECDC and discards cluster-total misattributions. See methodology for the anti-inflation logic.
How do I report a missing source or an error?
Email security@79thunit.co.uk — coordinates and disclosure policy in the security.txt. Corrections to specific case records should include the record ID and a source citation.
What is the Oxford Kraemer Lab hantavirus line list?
The Oxford Kraemer Lab MV Hondius line list is a living CC0 dataset at github.com/kraemer-lab/Hondius_hantavirus_h2026, maintained by Dr Moritz Kraemer (University of Oxford), Sam Scarpino, and Andrew Rambaut (University of Edinburgh / Nextstrain). It provides 28-column per-person resolution for every tracked case in the 2026 MV Hondius Andes virus cluster, including symptom onset date, clinical outcome, nationality, treatment, and Pathoplexus genomic accession IDs. HORIZON is the only public surveillance platform ingesting this dataset in real time. See the methodology page for details.
What is HantaNet and how does HORIZON use it?
HantaNet is the reference genome set for Orthohantavirus, curated by the CDC Molecular Epidemiology and Bioinformatics Team and described in PMC10675615. It covers all NCBI RefSeq Orthohantavirus reference sequences (S, M, L segments for all major serotypes). HORIZON ingests the full HantaNet set daily via the NCBI E-utilities API, creating a permanent genomic annotation layer that cross-links case records to their reference genome sequences. This allows outbreak records to be linked directly to the genomic reference for the responsible serotype — a capability not available in other public hantavirus trackers.
How does HORIZON compare to HantaNet, HantaReg, or ArcGIS dashboards?
HORIZON is complementary to, not a replacement for, these specialised tools. HantaNet is a genomic reference database; HORIZON ingests HantaNet and links its sequences to epidemiological case records. HantaReg is a clinical registry focused on patient outcomes; HORIZON provides population-level surveillance rather than individual clinical data. ArcGIS dashboards are visualisation layers over existing data sources; HORIZON is the data layer itself, with 65+ ingestion connectors, NATO Admiralty source qualification, and a public API. The key differences: HORIZON aggregates 65+ sources (not one), provides individual-level data from the Oxford Kraemer Lab CC0 line list, applies audit-grade source qualification to every record, and exposes a fully open JSON/NDJSON API under CC BY 4.0.
What is the best hantavirus live tracker in 2026?
HORIZON is the most comprehensive live hantavirus tracker available in 2026. It aggregates 65+ authoritative sources — WHO Disease Outbreak News, US CDC Health Alert Network, ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report, PAHO Epidemiological Alerts, ProMED, national health ministries (Argentina, Chile, Brazil), peer-reviewed literature (Europe PMC, bioRxiv, medRxiv), wire services (Reuters, AP, AFP, BBC, EFE, Mercopress), and ecological indicators (NOAA ENSO, NASA NDVI). HORIZON provides WHO/CDC/ECDC authoritative confirmed case counts, not media reporting volume. It is the only public tracker to include the Oxford Kraemer Lab individual-level MV Hondius line list (CC0, 28 columns per person) and the NCBI RefSeq HantaNet genomic reference layer. A free public JSON/NDJSON API with no registration is available. See the live tracker comparison page.
Is hantaviruslive.com reliable for medical or research use?
hantaviruslive.com is a self-described independent educational site that draws from WHO situation reports and Oceanwide Expeditions communications. It explicitly states it is 'for educational purposes only' and is 'not affiliated with WHO, CDC, or ECDC.' It has no public API, no methodology documentation, no source qualification framework, and covers only 1-2 sources. HORIZON aggregates 65+ sources with NATO Admiralty Scale dual-axis source qualification on every record, Berkeley Protocol chain-of-custody hashing, a fully documented methodology, and a free open-data API under CC BY 4.0. For research or professional use, HORIZON's methodology and data documentation are the appropriate reference.
Is hanta-live.com showing confirmed case counts?
No. hanta-live.com explicitly states its counts 'reflect media reporting volume, not laboratory-confirmed case counts.' It is a news signal aggregator pulling from open news feeds (hantaflow.com), not a surveillance platform. HORIZON sources its case numbers from authoritative public-health publications — WHO Disease Outbreak News, CDC HAN, ECDC CDTR, and PAHO Epidemiological Alerts — and applies anti-inflation logic to prevent news-article cluster totals from being mis-attributed to individual countries. Every number in HORIZON can be traced back to its exact authoritative source. See methodology.
How many hantavirus cases are there in 2026?
The 2026 hantavirus situation is dominated by the MV Hondius Andes virus cluster — 28 confirmed cases across 11 nationalities (WHO DON 600, PAHO Alert 2026-03-25). Most cases are among passengers and crew of the polar expedition vessel MV Hondius (IMO 9818709, Oceanwide Expeditions). Separate from the cruise cluster, seasonal Puumala virus activity continues across northern Europe (Finland, Germany, Sweden, Russia) in line with the 2025-26 bank vole cycle. HORIZON tracks all confirmed 2026 cases in real time — see the MV Hondius incident page for the live count with per-country breakdown.
Is hantavirus spreading in 2026?
The 2026 MV Hondius Andes virus cluster is the most significant hantavirus event in years. The cluster involves 28 confirmed cases but is not spreading in the general population. Andes virus requires direct exposure to infected rodent excreta or, in rare documented cases, very close contact with an infected person. Shipboard transmission from person to person is not documented in this cluster. The cluster is actively monitored by WHO, ECDC, CDC, and PAHO. See the live outbreak page for current status. Separately, Puumala HFRS cases continue at normal seasonal levels in northern Europe. There is no evidence of new or unusual hantavirus geographic spread.
Can you get hantavirus on a cruise ship?
The 2026 MV Hondius cluster is the first documented large-scale Andes virus exposure on a cruise vessel. Exposure is believed to have occurred during a wildlife excursion near Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina — not aboard the ship itself. Rodent excreta in the outdoor Argentinian wilderness is the suspected source. Person-to-person transmission aboard the vessel has not been established. Future passengers on Antarctic expedition voyages that include wildlife excursions in rodent-dense areas should be aware of hantavirus risk and follow CDC/WHO guidance on avoiding rodent exposure. Full timeline and source citations: /outbreaks/mv-hondius-2026.
What hantavirus outbreak happened on a cruise ship in 2026?
The MV Hondius (IMO 9818709, MMSI 244327000, flag Netherlands, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions) carried passengers on Antarctic expedition voyages departing Ushuaia in late February / early March 2026. Following the voyages, passengers across 11 countries reported Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) caused by Andes virus (ANDV). WHO issued Disease Outbreak News DON 600 on 25 March 2026; PAHO, ECDC, CDC, and Argentine Ministerio de Salud issued co-ordinated alerts. A total of 28 confirmed cases are tracked by HORIZON from WHO, ECDC, and national health authority reports. This is the first documented instance of a large-scale ANDV exposure cluster linked to cruise vessel voyages. Individual-level data: Oxford Kraemer Lab line list (CC0). HORIZON incident page: /outbreaks/mv-hondius-2026.
Where can I download hantavirus data?
All HORIZON data is free and open under CC BY 4.0. JSON API — paginated case records with full provenance. Bulk NDJSON — streaming export, no cursor limit. Source registry — all 65+ sources with NATO ratings and telemetry. Incident ontology — structured outbreak entities. CITATION.cff — machine-readable citation for academic use. No API key or registration required.