{"id":233371,"date":"2026-05-16T00:43:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T00:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/233371\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T00:43:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T00:43:10","slug":"health-officials-probing-possible-hantavirus-case-reported-at-upstate-ny-school-after-deadly-cruise-infection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/233371\/","title":{"rendered":"Health officials probing possible hantavirus case reported at upstate NY school after deadly cruise infection"},"content":{"rendered":"

A suspected hantavirus case<\/a> is under investigation after an upstate New York school district announced a high school student may have contracted the rodent-borne disease.<\/p>\n

The sickened Ontario County teen\u2019s case is not tied to the deadly outbreak that killed three passengers aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship<\/a> \u2013 and was likely contracted locally, with health officials calling the timing \u201chorrible,\u201d according to Geneva City Schools<\/a> and a local report.<\/p>\n

Officials stressed they are not dealing with a possible Andes strain, which spread on the now-evacuated vessel and carries a 40% mortality rate<\/a>. <\/p>\n

No other students or staff at Geneva High School are sick. <\/p>\n

The sickened Ontario County teen\u2019s case is not tied to the deadly outbreak that killed three passengers aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship. ABC13<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Ontario County Department of Health is investigating a suspected case of locally acquired hantavirus involving a Geneva High School student,\u201d the district told parents in a letter Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Department of Health has advised that there is no evidence of risk to other students or staff related to this situation. Health officials have also emphasized that this situation is not tied to the hantavirus strain currently receiving national media attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ontario County Public Health Director Kate Ott told WHAM<\/a> her office got the alert Thursday morning about the possible hantavirus case \u2013 marking just the second suspected case in the area in two decades.<\/p>\n

Health officials said the student has had mild symptoms for several weeks, including fatigue, aches, and lethargy. homes.com<\/p>\n

Ott said the student has had mild symptoms for several weeks, including fatigue, aches, and lethargy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis case is mild, and hantavirus is not always mild,\u201d she said, pointing to the case\u2019s \u201chorrible timing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Officials stressed the patient does not have the Andes strain and that no other students or staff were infected. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Ontario County Public Health Director Kate Ott said the student won\u2019t have to quarantine. OCPHealth<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can be really severe, so we\u2019re really grateful for that. The hantavirus that occurs in the U.S. is not spread person to person. It is spread between mice and humans. If I have it and I sneeze on you, you\u2019re not going to get it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ott told the outlet the student won\u2019t need to quarantine, while urging residents<\/a> to wear masks and gloves and take proper precautions when cleaning attics, cabins, sheds and garages.<\/p>\n

The latest hantavirus scare<\/a> comes as health officials around the world continue to track its spread after the rare Andes strain \u2013 capable of human-to-human transmission \u2013 ran rampant on the Dutch cruise ship, killing three passengers and putting dozens more at risk.<\/p>\n

Eighteen Americans \u2013 including three New Yorkers \u2013 on the ill-fated vessel were \u200bflown back to the US<\/a> and quarantined on Monday, with the one passenger who tested weakly positive now in a Nebraska biocontainment \u200cunit.<\/p>\n

The latest hantavirus scare comes as health officials around the world continue to track its spread after the rare Andes strain ran rampant on the Dutch cruise ship. Anadolu via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The identities of the New York residents<\/a> were not released, but Gov. Kathy Hochul said this week they live in New York City, Westchester County, and Orange County.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A suspected hantavirus case is under investigation after an upstate New York school district announced a high school…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":233372,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[16004,86145,57,9,11,10,3610,817,58,3731],"class_list":["post-233371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-cruises","tag-hantavirus","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-public-health","tag-upstate-new-york","tag-us-news","tag-virus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}