Health

Further Testing Finds Illinois Resident Did Not Have Hantavirus, Health Officials Say

An Illinois resident suspected last week of having hantavirus was found to not be infected after additional testing, the Illinois Department of Public Health announced Monday.

The negative test comes after state health officials said last week it was investigating a potential hantavirus case in a Winnebago County resident that was not linked to a recent deadly cruise ship outbreak.

Further testing by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not detect hantavirus in the individual, IDPH announced.

The risk of getting hantavirus remains very low for Illinois residents, according to health officials.

The individual was believed to have potentially gotten the North American strain of the hantavirus – which does not spread from person to person — while cleaning a home where rodent droppings were present, according to the state health department.

Illinois has had seven positive cases of hantavirus since 1993, most recently in March 2025, according to IDPH.

The North American hantavirus strain most commonly seen in the U.S. is caused by exposure to rodent droppings, according to health officials, while the Andes strain of hantavirus is the one behind the deadly cruise outbreak.

The outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship has reached at least 11 cases, nine of which have been confirmed by the World Health Organization. Three passengers have died from the outbreak, including a Dutch couple who health officials believe were the first exposed to the virus while visiting South America.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact Eunice Alpasan: [email protected]