The MV Hondius cruise ship, known for its recent hantavirus outbreak amongst its passengers, has evacuated some of the remaining passengers. As of May 10, around 122 passengers and crew have been evacuated from the ship docked in the Canary Islands. These passengers were flown to different countries to return home. Many of these passengers returned to countries within Europe, most notably the Netherlands, while others returned home to the United States.

With this outbreak, the fear of hantavirus spreading has gotten noticeable attention online. Many assume that this will be exactly like the infamous COVID-19. The Class of 2027 is one of the most scared, fearing their graduation will be potentially set the same as The Class of 2020. 

However, Covid-19 wants no relation to the hantavirus: “Hantavirus and I are not the same! I am an air-transmissible virus, and Hantavirus is transmitted person-to-person. I don’t even know who would want to spend all that time with a rodent!” Covid-19 said.

Statements from the rat that infected the passengers were also made. “I was living my life on these remote islands, then these random people came and stepped all over! They even wrecked my bathroom! I heard that these humans paid around $7,000 to just prance all over my fellow rats and my homes!” said the rat.

To prevent the spread of hantavirus, make sure you are not spending time with rats that carry the disease! If you are present around rodent ruin, droppings, and saliva, I don’t know what you are doing there, but it’s best to leave the area and disinfect. The Andes virus is the only type of hantavirus spread from person to person, so make sure your friend who hangs around feral rats all the time is far away from you. Remember, just because the rats are friends in Ratatouille doesn’t mean they don’t carry deadly viruses: just look at what happened with the bubonic plague.