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News & Current Events May 8, 2026 at 11:25 PM

Six people in Canada receiving isolation guidance over hantavirus outbreak on ship

Posted by toronto_star


Six people in Canada receiving isolation guidance over hantavirus outbreak on ship
Toronto Star
Six people in Canada receiving isolation guidance over hantavirus outbreak on ship
There are 10 Canadians in total, including four still on board the ship, affected, and all are asymptomatic, according to chief public health officer.

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Racherseth 4 days ago +184
What do you mean ‘guidance’? Fackkkk
184
SY0123 4 days ago +50
Remote work, here I come.
50
Noughmad 4 days ago +33
They mean 'literal nothing'. Nobody followed COVID measures, and they still believe there was a 'lockdown'. Guidance is exactly as good as thoughts and prayers.
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mysecondaccountanon 3 days ago +9
Basically any time someone complains about “lockdowns” I find it’s usually the people who literally had no lockdowns where they were and were just upset at the mere suggestions made, ones that they didn’t even follow.
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jerrysupervillain 4 days ago +250
This person should be forced into enforced lockdown. Pass a law that prevents repercussions from their employer and that covers their rent and bills. That’s it.
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CyberdyneGPT5 4 days ago +141
Tickets for the 33- to 35-night Atlantic Odyssey expedition on the MV Hondius, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, cost roughly $16,000 to over $25,000 per person For anybody on that cruise rent and daily living expenses are the least of their problems.
141
hurricane4689 4 days ago +51
Also why they weren’t quarantined on the boat for an appropriate amount of time.
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MeltingMandarins 4 days ago +28
Because these people were all off the boat long before anyone was diagnosed with hanta.  (And I think at least one was never on the boat, maybe just on the plane?) When they disembarked, it was one dead guy, who’d had gastro then respiratory symptoms.  Looked like just another senior citizen dying from the flu.  (Average of about 200 people die on cruises per year.   So not surprising they weren’t too concerned.)
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Necessary_Pea_4900 4 days ago +10
The actions taken in the past were understandable. But once you know follow the rules we know / learned for centuries. Quarantine until the incubation period is over. And if it is 6 to 8 weeks, take 8.
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a500poundchicken 4 days ago +8
Also why this is getting so much coverage. Rich people from rich countries. I do live in Canada for reference but this is complete media bias
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iforgotmyuserr 4 days ago +39
Because people are traumatized from Covid and a lot of the articles are reminiscent of early Covid headlines. People are terrified of another pandemic
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[deleted] 4 days ago +17
[deleted]
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chenan 4 days ago -1
Some people choose to save and spend their money on experienced. Also there are many lower class people driving $80k trucks. Don’t make them rich.
-1
[deleted] 2 days ago +2
[deleted]
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chenan 2 days ago
Many people who go on cruises are retirees? It’s a pretty well documented phenomenon. Again, we have plenty of broke ass people buying $80k trucks but for whatever reason it’s conceivable that someone can drop $16k on a cruise? It seems like you might just have money problems and are projecting your financial insecurities into this conversation. Middle class includes upper middle class too.
0
Kooky-Housing-7056 4 days ago +7
Not necessarily, they may have saved up for this trip. I saved the money to live in another country for a year. Now I’m broke lol
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ksmyt92 4 days ago -6
Being able to save up that amount is already a level of privilege I lot of people don't have
-6
Little_Noodles 4 days ago +2
At least one of the infected is staff, though. I fully agree with the argument that those who paid to be on the boat probably also have the resources to quarantine. But I wouldn’t assume that everyone that needs to quarantine paid to be on the boat.
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ender___ 4 days ago +29
Hi it’s me the infected, where do I get my free rent
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ajmartin527 4 days ago +33
Just show that you were recently on a cruise ship near the Canary Islands and I’m sure many governments and orgs would gladly fund your isolation
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jerrysupervillain 4 days ago +6
If this is actually the case, your case should be raised with the government, who will provide guidance and support considering.
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MachineSpirited7085 4 days ago +84
i hope its not season 2 in 2026
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SausageClatter 4 days ago +20
It already is. It's just a matter of how many plots they want to recycle. Lazy writing, all of it. They've jumped like 50 sharks already.
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DarkFireFenrir 2 days ago +1
God: Oh, really? You want something original? *turns the virus into a zombie*
1
thefancykyle 4 days ago +73
Wasn't it said a few years back that as climate change accelerates so too will pandemics become more frequent along with more often "once in a lifetime weather patterns"
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Little_Noodles 4 days ago +23
Yeah, but that’s more of a “climate catastrophes make sanitation and stuff harder while also forcing disorganized mass migration” thing. It’s a genuine problem that too few governments are taking seriously, but this isn’t the same thing
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noyourenottheonlyone 4 days ago +15
The four corners hantavirus outbreak was supposedly caused due to changes in rodent behavior based climate effects - The 1993 Four Corners hantavirus outbreak was triggered by a strong El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event in 1992–1993, which brought heavy rainfall to the Southwest United States. This precipitation caused a massive spike in vegetation, causing a tenfold increase in the local deer mouse population, the primary carrier of the Sin Nombre virus. -
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Little_Noodles 4 days ago +3
That is a good point - there is that too. Still, the initial patient here contracted it by exploring a literal garbage dump, which is a traditionally pretty normal rat biome.
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gleamblossom1021 3 days ago +3
I have my masters in environments policy and while going through that one of the areas I became very interested in is climate changes impact on human health. Yes, climate change will make diseases and pandemics more frequent mainly because insects (vector-borne diseases) will have a longer breeding time from the increased temperatures. Climate change will also increase the amount of standing water from sea level rise, increases in rainfall, resulting in reduced soil absorption again leading to an increase in vector-borne diseases. That's just the climate change side of it though. People are much more connected now than ever before with planes, high speed rails, cars. And today 55% of the global population is living in urban areas with that figure rising to around 70% by 2050. We're also not producing new antibiotics as quickly as needed to combat antibiotic resistance.
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Ratiocinor 4 days ago +4
With how dense and overpopulated the Earth has become and how we've had c**** international air travel for decades now, I'm honestly surprised its taken this long and hasn't happened a lot more often The large scale movement of people around the world for WW1 caused the Spanish flu pandemic. In the 1920s there was around 2 billion people on earth. There's now 8.3 billion and it's still growing
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Donners22 4 days ago +2
That was raised in Laurie Garrett's 1994 book The Coming Plague, and wasn't a new idea then. Much like antibiotic resistance and bird flu, people have been warning about these threats for decades, and they are only getting worse.
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J-Midori 4 days ago +22
6? I read two days ago it was 2...but they are saying 10 including the ones in the ship...this number is growing... >In a late-press conference update, public health confirmed they had reached a sixth Canadian who may have been in contact with the virus. >In total, there are 10 affected Canadians, including the four travellers still on the cruise ship. [Hantavirus news Canada: 10 Canadians connected to outbreak](https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/article/10-canadians-connected-to-hantavirus-outbreak-on-cruise-ship/)
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Little_Noodles 4 days ago +62
There’s going to be an increasing number of casually exposed people as authorities do contact tracing. That doesn’t mean that there’s an increase in infections. This is just … how infectious disease protocol works. Like, it would be weird if someone ran down the list of people infected or possibly infected people had casual contact with and nobody was on it. So far, absolutely nobody on that casual contact list has tested positive. Cruise ships are a virus’s wet dream, and even then, barely anyone on a 200-some person ship got sick (of the four, one is the original patient’s wife and another was the ship doctor).
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yukonwanderer 4 days ago +9
It's good in one sense that it's growing because it means they're tracking people. Gotta try to find the silver linings...
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nothingnatural 4 days ago +8
Yes, silver linings. At the very least for this outbreak they were able to pin point the origins and are telling people in close contact with the infected to isolate. Covid was a Novel virus (Andean hantavirus is not) and had already been spreading internationally with a high R0 with weeks of news of a virus outbreak in China. Take that with a grain of salt but the fact that people directly connected with the original infected are isolating is different than last pandemic.
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69___Nice 4 days ago +2
I think I've seen this movie before...
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UnfortunatelySimple 4 days ago +26
The government is offering financial support so they can isolate... right?
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Northern_Ice_2501 4 days ago +14
Possibly. They could apply for sickness benefits through unemployment insurance.
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dumbass_sempervirens 4 days ago +5
Right? I'd be down to do it, but I'm going to need some help with logistics. And I need call to my boss.
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death_by_chocolate 4 days ago +27
"I'm here to help you learn how to navigate the terrible burden of being alone for a couple of days."
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milkplantation 4 days ago +34
It’s up to 8 weeks of isolation. Nothing to scoff at. Edit: I should have remembered I was on Listnook. For anyone downplaying 8 weeks of isolation, there are many studies that indicate that much time alone negatively impacts psychological health and leads to higher anxiety and depression as well as type 2 diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and dementia. Go outside, see your friends.
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smart_stable_genius_ 4 days ago +41
Honestly I could use the break.
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Jrnail88 4 days ago +12
Sounds amazing
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internet4ever 4 days ago +15
Y’all are drama queens. 8 weeks with a phone and internet access is nothing. 
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Schen5s 4 days ago +10
If I can get decent WiFi then give me my switch or ps4/ laptop and I'm good lol
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howlongwillthislast_ 4 days ago +15
I'm disabled. 8 weeks is nothing.
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death_by_chocolate 4 days ago +2
OMG BRUTAL
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omgitsabear 4 days ago -2
Death by a*** prolapse.
-2
milkplantation 4 days ago -13
Guess you go that long without touching grass all the time, huh?
-13
ManOnFire26 4 days ago +1
CERB 2.0 here we come
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goobawhoba 4 days ago +4
Jobs be like "sorry but we dont accept doctors notes"
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p3rviepanda1 4 days ago +7
I call dips for toilet paper tomorrow at Costco. Don’t you people dare fight me for them. Thx
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Lady_Litreeo 4 days ago +13
Dibs? Or are you dipping the toilet paper into the bowl? You’re not supposed to do that by the way.
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Pyewickets 4 days ago +3
Is there a vaccine?
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hotlavatube 4 days ago +42
No, though a [company is working on an mRNA vaccine](https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/scientists-are-working-hantavirus-vaccine-s-likely-years-away-rcna344134). Unfortunately, it's likely years away. The article notes that previous efforts have previously stalled repeatedly as outbreaks only happen sporadically. Of course, it probably didn't help that [RFK has cancelled funding for mRNA vaccine research](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c74dzdddvmjo).
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Pyewickets 4 days ago +9
RFK omg
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_backdr0p 4 days ago -2
No. Hantavirus doesn't typically spread from person to person. Usually it's contracted when people sweep garages/spaces where there are mouse droppings or urine without wearing a mask. Only specific mice carry it as well. The variant in the news is south american specific, which has person to person transmission. However it's through close contact only while the carrier is visibly ill - not like covid where it can linger in the air after coughing or have asymptomatic spread. This Hantavirus basically needs direct bodily fluid transmission
-2
yukonwanderer 4 days ago +10
This is out of date and clearly incorrect. People have caught it simply by sharing a plane or ship with sick people. No body fluids involved, just breathing the same air. The data that we have on the Andes one is very limited and anyone who thinks they have a clear picture is kidding themselves. Besides, a previous study noted that someone caught it as they passed by at a distance of 4'. That's not what most people consider "close contact" - that's an office cubicle, that's a transit trip, that's a grocery store or restaurant aisle.
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nothingnatural 4 days ago +7
Study source?
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mindlesslobster014 4 days ago +7
One person caught it simply by [walking past someone on the way to the restroom](https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/06/health/andes-strain-hantavirus-explained). >Palacios said the window for transmission of the Andes virus appears to be short, about a day. People are at their peak of infectiousness on the day they develop a fever ... >During the 90 minutes he was at the party, he infected five others, including two people sitting roughly a foot from him at the same table and two people who were sitting roughly 4 feet away from him at neighboring tables. **The fifth person to catch the virus crossed paths with the patient only briefly on their way to the restroom** ... >"... It’s an unusual person-to-person event, and it might have happened because, perhaps, of a closed environment on a ship,” said Dr. Lucille Blumberg, an infectious disease specialist who is the former deputy director of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa, of the cruise ship outbreak.
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stealth_veil 4 days ago +5
*COD Zombies New Round Sound Effect*
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Akira1996 4 days ago
Lmao that's fantastic.
0
scubawankenobi 2 days ago +1
They'll be at Starbucks come morning! Maybe day-trip visit to the USA?
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catsafrican 2 days ago +1
This isnt correct, 6 cdns but also 2 cdns on board a plane with an infected person .
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Gard1ner 4 days ago -7
Interesting. Mother Earth works in mysterious ways. ...and got a scary big armory to self correct. Just sayin'
-7
[deleted] 4 days ago
[deleted]
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AFreakingCapitalist 4 days ago +6
Idk man people dying kinda sucks
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sengir0 4 days ago
From what ive been reading, this isnt airborn right? How is it currently spreading from human to human
0
ThatGenericName2 4 days ago +3
We dont know if it is, nor do we know that it isn’t. What we do know is that people have it, there is a strain of the virus that can spread person to person, and those people have interacted with others during a period where that could spread. That’s why they’re assuming the worst case which is that it is both the version that can be spread from person to person, and also that it might be airborne. These people aren’t those identified to be infected, just those who have been in contact with those who are, remember the first person identified to have been in contact with those infected (that flight attendant) was just coincidentally sick with something else. The people on the cruise ship are by nature in very close proximity in an enclosed space, cruise ships are notorious for being a great way for a bunch of people to get sick from the exact same thing, so for them it could have been spread via other vectors and not airborne.
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Long-Passion7910 3 days ago +1
They surmise that the guy that contracted the virus was at dump with his wife looking for a rare bird and caught it through aerosol participles. They say it takes “prolonged contact” to get it, then how long was the guy and his wife at the dump for? How long is prolonged contact? If their guess is right for how he contracted it, wouldn’t that put the whole “prolonged contact” exposure theory out the window??
1
Electronic-Exam9380 4 days ago
Im ready for this bring it on
0
Jazzlike_Quiet9941 4 days ago -43
Everyone will forget about this in a month just like they did the other false (media) pandemic scare last month. Pay attention
-43
ender___ 4 days ago +28
Mad when they report it, mad when they don’t, when you where tinfoil all you hear is the metal scrunching. It’s only scary if you read it scared. I’d rather know if people are infected
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bledviolet 4 days ago +6
Sure hope not. Incubation period is up to 2 months.
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Kooky-Housing-7056 4 days ago -2
Does anyone know what province or territory? I want to know if I should start masking up 🙃
-2
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