World4 min(s) read
Published 13:23 12 May 2026 GMT
A woman who survived hantavirus has opened up about the frightening health ordeal that left her dealing with breathing problems for months after developing severe flu-like symptoms.
Mary Stanley, 43, from Norman, Oklahoma, tested positive for the rare rodent-borne virus in May 2025 after what she believes was exposure to mouse droppings hidden inside an office air-conditioning unit.
Speaking to The U.S. Sun about the experience following a recent outbreak linked to a cruise ship, Mary admitted she feared for her life as her condition worsened. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to get worse and die, but I tried to keep healing my lungs,” she said.
She described the illness as far more severe than anything she had experienced before. “The worst part was the pressure on my lungs. It felt like someone was standing on my chest constantly,” Mary explained. “The cough was horrific. I was also really worried I was going to give it to my kids.”
Alongside the intense cough, she said she suffered “body aches, chills and was sweating all day.”
Mary believes she contracted the virus after switching on the office air conditioning for the first time in months. She said a powerful smell immediately filled the room before workers discovered rodents had nested inside the unit over winter.
“The smell of rodents was so horrific my eyes were pouring water, my face and throat were itchy,” she recalled. “Apparently, mice had built a nest in the unit over the winter.”
After hearing reports about hantavirus in the news, Mary began researching the symptoms. Within around 10 days, she developed what initially felt like an upper respiratory infection before rapidly deteriorating.
She said she became exhausted, struggled to breathe, and spent most days sleeping. Testing for the virus also proved difficult because her local medical lab was unable to process it immediately.
“My doctor’s lab didn’t have the ability to test for it, so they had to look for a lab,” she explained, adding that it took several days to receive confirmation of the diagnosis.
Even after testing positive, Mary said there appeared to be uncertainty among medical staff about how best to proceed. “He called me back and said he had put in a call to the infectious disease person here in Oklahoma and that he wasn’t sure where to go from here,” she said of her doctor.
Determined to recover, Mary focused on improving her lung strength through exercise and home remedies. “I drank tons of water and would get on my treadmill and walk uphill four miles a day,” she said. “It was difficult but I needed to keep my breathing good.”
She also used supplements and hot liquids to ease congestion, including “Elderberry, liquid oxygen, hot liquids/soups to break up the chest congestion, vitamin C, B12 and D.”
Although her worst symptoms eased after several weeks, the recovery process was long. “It took about four weeks for symptoms to resolve,” Mary said. “I had shortness of breath for around six months.”
Mary also compared the illness to Covid, saying: “This was much worse than Covid.”
Her story comes as health authorities monitor an outbreak of Andes virus, a strain of hantavirus, linked to a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
According to reports, several passengers aboard the MV Hondius died after contracting the illness, prompting emergency evacuations and international monitoring efforts.
Despite concerns, experts stress that hantavirus spreads very differently from Covid. While the Andes strain can rarely spread between humans, officials say it is significantly less contagious overall.
Mary, who lives with her three teenage children, said the experience left her deeply concerned about how the virus could affect more vulnerable people.
“It worries me that other people who may not be as healthy as myself could quickly become deathly ill … and children,” she said.
