The CDC doesn't have a PCR test for the Andes virus.
A lab in Nebraska built and validated an Andes-specific PCR test in literal days in anticipation of receiving the American cruise ship passengers.
This week's episode of viroLOGICAL is about Andes virus.
https://x.com/quay\_dr/status/2054212027791642952?s=46
May 12, 2026 Update:
We now have six 2026 Andes Hantavirus sequences
The M gene, the most variable, is identical for all six
A single rodent-to-human Index Case, followed by repeat Human-to-Human transmission continues as the highest probable scenario
A 2015 paper on treating Andes hantavirus shows a reduction in CFR, case fatality rate, from 32% to 14% by the administration of neutralizing antibodies taken by plasmapheresis from survivors of hantavirus cardiopullmonary syndrome.
We don't need a vaccine for a disease with an annual incidence of about 100 cases per year in Argentina and Chile, a total of 66 million people
In a candle rut and fell in love with the smell of lilacs after buying some at the Union square farmers market. Are there any lilac scented candles you’d recommend?
BREAKING: First sequencing of the Hantavirus from the outbreak.
-99% identical to a June 2018 case from a patient in Argentina
-10.4 SNV/year mutation rate
- The Andes genome is about 12 kb across three RNA segments. At 10⁻⁴ to 10⁻³ substitutions/site/year, that translates very roughly to 1-12 SNV per year
-Completely in line with a natural spillover in Argentina from the rodent host in 2018 and now in 2026 https://x.com/quay\_dr/status/2053800216747483210?s=46
https://apnews.com/article/hantavirus-outbreak-hondius-cruise-ship-df0e7e1fb9c7fd3e4092be06e684f644
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A French woman and an American tested positive for the hantavirus, as nations around the world scrambled Monday to repatriate passengers from a cruise ship hit by a deadly outbreak and quarantine or isolate them.
Passengers from the ship began flying home aboard military and government planes Sunday after the MV Hondius anchored in the Canary Islands. Personnel in full-body protective gear and breathing masks escorted the travelers from ship to shore in Tenerife, an effort that was continuing Monday.
It is the first-ever case of a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship, according to Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness. So far three cruise ship passengers have died, but health authorities continue to stress that the risk to the broader public is low.
Who says? Reuters says who says. I don’t know. Third base. IYKYK https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/klm-flight-attendant-tested-negative-hantavirus-infection-who-says-2026-05-08/