Health Secretary RFK Jr. said the hantavirus outbreak is “under control and we’re not worried about it.” President Trump reinforced that the virus is “very hard to catch.”
17 Americans and a dual British-U.S. citizen were evacuated from the cruise ship and moved into biocontainment units in the U.S. on Monday for further assessment and care. https://cbsn.ws/3PdNxeQ
Health Secretary RFK Jr. said the hantavirus outbreak is “under control and we're not worried about it.” President Trump reinforced that the virus is “very hard to catch.”
17 Americans and a dual British-U.S. citizen were evacuated from the cruise ship and moved into… pic.twitter.com/Mn1sbmMrtL
— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 11, 2026
Woman exposed to hantavirus on cruise ship says feds are forcing her to stay quarantined in Nebraska
https://t.co/h2PEfnU2Mi— WSFA 12 News (@wsfa12news) May 19, 2026
Factcheck:
There was a hantavirus outbreak on an expedition cruise ship in the Atlantic that killed at least three people. When the ship returned, the Trump administration and HHS Secretary RFK Jr. put returning American passengers under quarantine. Eighteen Americans and one dual citizen were moved into medical isolation and biocontainment units (mainly at the University of Nebraska Medical Center) for monitoring and a 21-day quarantine period.
Trump and RFK Jr. have publicly defended the response, saying the situation is “under control” and they’re “not worried about it.” Some public health experts have called the quarantine measures stricter than necessary for hantavirus, which doesn’t spread easily person-to-person.
Relevant links:
NY Times on the strict quarantine approach https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/21/us/hantavirus-ebola-quarantine-trump.html
The Hill on RFK Jr.’s comments https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5872730-kennedy-hantavirus-situation-update/