Americans first learned about the HantaVirus during the Korean War when US soldiers, sleeping in sleeping-bags on the ground near the village of Hanta, got deathly ill. The disease is spread by breathing-in dried-dusty infected-mouse feces.
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Later the disease caused deaths of campers sleeping on the ground in lean-tos along the Appalachia Trail in Virginia.
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Additional fatal cases occurred in Native American communities in the South-West. A young couple died after cleaning out a very dusty mouse ridden abandoned trailer.
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Fast forward to current time: an outbreak has occurred on an ocean tour vessel in which three have died and several more are ill. All passengers are quarantined and passengers that had already disembarked are being contacted and monitored.
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Korean War Virus Killed Mrs Hackman
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2025/03/korean-war-virus-killed-mrs-hackman.html
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Inside the Global Effort to Figure Out Where Hantavirus Will Strike Next
Health authorities, airlines and the operator of the MV Hondius cruise ship are mobilizing to contain the spread of a pathogen that has killed three
https://www.wsj.com/health/hantavirus-contact-tracing-cruise-ship-3a9afe33?mod=hp_lead_pos5
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The New York Times reported May 6 that public health agencies in Georgia, Arizona and California are monitoring residents who were aboard the MV Hondius cruise but have since returned to their homes. None of the people being monitored have shown signs of illness, according to the Times.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2026/05/07/hantavirus-outbreak-cases-cruise-ship-us-updates/89970817007/
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“The best-laid plans of mice and men Often go awry”
comes from the poem “To a Mouse” by Robert Burns:
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Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
https://reviews.rebeccareid.com/of-mice-and-men-by-john-steinbeck/
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