Illinois investigates hantavirus case in Winnebago County unrelated to cruise outbreak

May 13-A case of hantavirus is being investigated by the Illinois Department of Public Health, and officials say it is not related to the MV Hondius cruise ship outbreak that has sent Americans aboard the vessel to Omaha, Nebraska, for recovery.

According to an announcement from the IDPH, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also involved by conducting additional testing to confirm the individual is positive for the virus, and those results could take up to 10 days. The individual may have contracted hantavirus while cleaning a house where rodent droppings were present.

"This is not your typical house mouse," Orkin Entomologist and National Technical Director Shannon Sked told Chicago's ABC 7. "Norway rat, roof rat, which are most of the commensal rodents that we work with in the pest control environment... In the area in the Midwest, it's those ones that come in in the winter and over winter and then go back out into the farm fields in the summer."

Since 1993, Illinois has had seven confirmed cases of hantavirus. The most recent case before this investigation was in March 2025.

"The resident lives in Winnebago County, has not travelled internationally, and has not come in contact with individuals associated with the MV Hondius outbreak," IDPH said in a statement. "They are suspected to have acquired a North American strain of the virus while cleaning a home where rodent droppings were present.

"Unlike the Andes strain of Hantavirus responsible for the cruise outbreak, the North American strains are not known to spread from person-to-person. The risk of contracting Hantavirus of any kind remains very low for Illinois residents."

Winnebago County is along Illinois' northern border near Beloit, Wisconsin. The county seat is Rockford.

"The Hantavirus strain most commonly seen in the U.S. is caused by exposure to rodent droppings and is NOT contagious from person to person," the IDPH announcement notes. "The rodent species (long-tailed pygmy rice rat) known to carry the Andes strain of the virus in South America does not live in the U.S."

In a social media post thread, IDPH also writes, "Early symptoms can include fever, fatigue, muscle aches, headache, nausea, and stomach pain. More severe symptoms can include coughing and trouble breathing. Most hantaviruses spread through contact with infected rodents, including exposure to their urine, droppings, or saliva, often while cleaning spaces where rodents have been present."

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This story was originally published May 13, 2026 at 6:43 PM.