Oregon Doctor Tests Positive for Hantavirus After Assisting Sick Passengers on Cruise Ship

Dr. Stephen Kornfeld, a retired oncologist from Oregon, has tested positive for hantavirus after volunteering to assist sick passengers aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship. The vessel, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, experienced an outbreak of the Andes strain of hantavirus during a voyage from Argentina to Cape Verde, resulting in at least three deaths. Kornfeld, who initially suffered flu-like symptoms including night sweats and fatigue, is currently isolated in a biocontainment unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. His test results were conflicting, with one lab returning a negative result and another a faintly positive one. Meanwhile, the Illinois Department of Public Health is investigating a separate, unrelated hantavirus case in Winnebago County. This local case involves a North American strain contracted through exposure to rodent droppings, not person-to-person transmission. Officials confirmed the Illinois resident is recovering from mild symptoms and had no contact with the cruise ship outbreak. The incident highlights the distinct transmission risks between the Andes strain, which can rarely spread between humans, and North American strains, which do not.