Oregon doctor on cruise ship tested positive for hantavirus, isolating in biocontainment unit

Oregon doctor on cruise ship tested positive for hantavirus, isolating in biocontainment unit PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - An Oregon resident has tested positive for hantavirus, and is isolating in a biocontainment unit in Nebraska, he told CNN on Tuesday. Dr. Stephen Kornfeld from Bend helped care for sick passengers on the M/V Hondius cruise ship at the center of the outbreak, and has now tested positive himself. Kornfeld told CNN that he is isolated in the biocontainment unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center after testing positive for the virus, but that he is not currently experiencing any symptoms. Earlier Tuesday, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) announced that they were closely monitoring a cluster of Andes virus hantavirus cases linked with passengers on the cruise ship, which departed Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1, according to state officials. OHA said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had notified Oregon health officials that one Oregon resident had been connected to the ship and has been taken to a Nebraska facility for risk assessment and monitoring. Public health officials said all passengers returning to the United States will be actively monitored for symptoms for 42 days following their arrival in Nebraska. No passengers have returned to Oregon so far, officials said. Hantaviruses are rare but can cause severe illness in humans and typically spread to humans through contact with infected rodents like rats and mice. The Andes virus, a strain of hantavirus found in South America, is notable because it can be associated with limited person-to-person transmission. Health officials emphasized that the Andes virus is not found in Oregon. Copyright 2026 KPTV-KPDX. All rights reserved.