US3 min(s) read
Published 12:10 08 May 2026 GMT
The outbreak of a rare, deadly disease on board a cruise ship has sparked major public health concerns, but President Donald Trump has declared that the situation is “under very good control”.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, May 7, Trump reassured Americans that the situation appeared contained.
In an impromptu interview near the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington DC, the president declared that the administration planned to release “a full report” on the incident and said health officials were continuing to study the outbreak closely.
Trump said: “We have a ship, as you know, it's a large ship, and it has a problem. It’s the Hantavirus, which is a very tough thing, but we have the best people in the world looking at it.
“I spoke with the Governor, I spoke with the maritime authorities. We are bringing them to a safe location.
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“We're going to take care of the people, but we're also going to make sure the virus doesn't spread. It’s a small number of people, but we’re treating it very seriously.”
There have been concerns worldwide that we could be on the brink of another crisis similar in severity to the COVID pandemic, but, thankfully, the World Health Organization has said that the virus is “not the next COVID”.
It is currently thought that the strain of Hantavirus that has spread on the luxury cruise liner MV Hondius is the Andes virus, which has an extremely concerning mortality rate of 40 percent.
So far, the virus has killed three people and left a growing number seriously ill.
When pressed by journalists about hantavirus spreading in and around the US, Trump responded, “It’ll be over quickly. We have it under very good control. We have a great team, and they’re doing a fantastic job."
Hopefully, the president is right in saying that the outbreak is contained and it will not be a threat to the American public, as health officials have said the US is not prepared for another pandemic.
Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, CEO of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, claimed the US is “not prepared” to handle a hantavirus outbreak because of funding and staffing cuts made by the Trump administration
She told USA Today, "All of these things have really profound, ripple effects."
