{"id":10049,"date":"2026-06-05T17:27:31","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T17:27:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/?p=10049"},"modified":"2026-06-05T17:27:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T17:27:31","slug":"arizona-resident-dies-from-rat-virus-that-sparked-outbreak-on-cruise-ship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/?p=10049","title":{"rendered":"Arizona resident dies from rat virus that sparked outbreak on cruise ship"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">An <a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.com\/news\/arizona\/index.html\" id=\"mol-d9859170-60e6-11f1-9d7c-415bfea80a92\">Arizona<\/a> resident has died of the dangerous rat virus that sparked an outbreak on a luxury cruise liner.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The Mohave County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) announced Monday that an unidentified resident died of hantavirus, which typically spreads from exposure to rat droppings.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The individual died of the Sin Nombre variant, which is carried by deer mice and is not the <a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.com\/health\/article-15849375\/hantavirus-confirmed-passenger-cruise-ship-Hondius-outbreak.html\">strain found on the MV Hondius cruise ship<\/a> that infected 13 passengers and killed three.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Sin Nombre, which translates from Spanish to &#8216;nameless virus,&#8217; is primarily spread by deer mice and passed to humans who inhale airborne particles from droppings, urine or saliva.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Unlike the Andes strain that ravaged the MV Hondius, Sin Nombre does not spread from person to person. However, it kills 30 to 40 percent of patients, largely due to respiratory failure.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;This hantavirus case is related to the Sin Nombre virus strain and is not related to the Andes virus outbreak associated with the MV Hondius cruise ship,&#8217; MCDPH said in a statement.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">It&#8217;s unclear how the infected individual contracted the disease, but MCDPH stated that &#8216;local transmission cannot be ruled out.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The health department urged Arizona residents to check for signs of rodent activity and avoid sweeping or vacuuming rodent droppings, as this can send contaminated dust into the air.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\" style=\"\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-bfd6edd13367bd8d\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/06\/05\/14\/109040001-15877283-A_passenger_from_the_hantavirus_stricken_cruise_ship_MV_Hondius_-a-1_1780667954848.jpg\" height=\"450\" width=\"634\" alt=\"An Arizona resident has died of hantavirus, a rat-borne illness that\u00a0 ravaged the MV Hondius cruise ship earlier this year. However, the Arizona resident had a different strain and was not on the ship. Pictured above is an MV Hondius passenger being disinfected (file photo)\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">An Arizona resident has died of hantavirus, a rat-borne illness that\u00a0 ravaged the MV Hondius cruise ship earlier this year. However, the Arizona resident had a different strain and was not on the ship. Pictured above is an MV Hondius passenger being disinfected (file photo)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><iframe data-xpmodule-iframe-resizable=\"\" scrolling=\"no\" name=\"xp-iframe-mq171q9ubdgi3ldz089\" class=\"iframe-creator \" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/html_modules\/Annie\/tests\/240905-healthsubheading-finalversion\/index.html\" allow=\"clipboard-write\" height=\"45\" style=\"border: 0; width: 0; min-width: 100%; \" id=\"xp-iframe-mq171q9ubdgi3ldz089\"><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>    <\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;Although hantavirus is uncommon, awareness and prevention are important, especially for people spending time outdoors or cleaning areas where rodents may be present,&#8217; Melissa Palmer, Health Director at MCDPH, said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Hantaviruses typically cause symptoms one to eight weeks after exposure, according to the <a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.com\/news\/centers-for-disease-control-and-prevention-cdc\/index.html\" id=\"mol-93909950-4e0b-11f1-ab6c-f50fd74579a0\">CDC<\/a>. These signs include fever, fatigue, muscle aches, headache, dizziness, chills, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">As the illness progresses, patients may suffer from cough, shortness of breath and trouble breathing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The disease&#8217;s high mortality rate is primarily due to Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), a severe respiratory condition where blood vessels in the lungs leak, filling air sacs with fluid. This results in respiratory failure.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">There are no approved vaccines and no specific antiviral treatments proven to work against hantavirus.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Patients who become severely ill can receive oxygen, mechanical ventilation, or in the most serious cases, an ECMO machine that takes over the work of the heart and lungs while the body fights the infection.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Sin Nombre hantavirus is the most common variant in North America, though it is rare, with fewer than 900 cases reported in the US since health authorities began tracking it in 1993.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The CDC estimates over 90 percent of cases are found west of the Mississippi River and in southwestern Canada, primarily in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado, where deer mice populations thrive.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\" style=\"\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-e15c42e90b1c9045\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/06\/05\/15\/109154747-15877283-image-a-3_1780671563560.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Staff are pictured preparing to disinfect the MV Hondius cruise ship, the source of a hantavirus outbreak that has sickened 13 and killed three\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Staff are pictured preparing to disinfect the MV Hondius cruise ship, the source of a hantavirus outbreak that has sickened 13 and killed three<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\" style=\"\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-5a7b43327694be16\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/06\/05\/15\/109154787-15877283-image-a-2_1780671516388.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Hantavirus is primarily spread by the deer mouse (pictured above) and is mostly detected in the southwestern region of the US\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Hantavirus is primarily spread by the deer mouse (pictured above) and is mostly detected in the southwestern region of the US<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The Arizona resident&#8217;s death is the state&#8217;s first this year, and there are typically a handful of reported cases each year. Health authorities do not closely track annual cases per state.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Four Arizona residents died of hantavirus in 2025, state health data shows.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">MCDPH said enclosed spaces where rodents may live should be aired out for at least 30 minutes before cleaning, and droppings or nests should be sprayed with disinfectant.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Residents clearing rat droppings should also wear gloves and masks while cleaning contaminated areas and seal holes and gaps around homes, garages, sheds or other structures to keep rats from entering.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The health department also recommended storing food, pet food and garbage in rodent-resistant containers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An Arizona resident has died of the dangerous rat virus that sparked an outbreak on a luxury cruise liner. The Mohave County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) announced Monday that an unidentified resident died of hantavirus, which typically spreads from exposure to rat droppings.\u00a0 The individual died of the Sin Nombre variant, which is carried<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10050,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bunyad_sub_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[520],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hot"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}