And then, of course they've been very careful to also give the needed medical assistance to the patients on board.”But what is hantavirus exactly?Hantaviruses are strains of a virus primarily carried by rodents, such as rats and mice, but that can be transmitted to humans with certain strains.Executive director of South Africa's National Institute of Communicable Diseases, Nazir Ismail, says exposure typically occurs in specific environments.“Just also to be clear that, usually the hantaviruses most often are not usually spread human to human, most of the viruses And based on the Argentinian history et cetera, and the travel history of these individuals, we’ll still do the confirmation to see whether it is a South American variant.”Between 1993 and 2023, there were 890 cases in the United States.It's the illness that claimed the live of Gene Hackman's wife, Betsy Arakawa in February 2025.In Australia, no known human cases have been reported.Professor of Infectious Diseases and Global Health at the University of Sydney, Dr Meru Sheel says as the situation on the cruise ship continues to be monitored, lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic response may be useful while navigating the outbreak.“I think there's benefits of the pandemic and the pandemic treaty for the general public and the awareness that globally there is an emphasis on a coordinated response and facilitated information sharing across countries and participation from many sectors like the cruise ship industry from different governments and WHO