Illinois health officials are investigating a potential case of hantavirus that is unrelated to the cruise ship outbreak that made headlines in recent weeks.
The Winnebago County resident was likely exposed to the virus through rodent droppings while cleaning a home, the Illinois Department of Health announced Tuesday. The person has since recovered from mild symptoms that did not require hospitalization, the department said in a statement.
State health officials said the person has not traveled internationally or made contact with any of the patients from the cruise ship. The person’s case is a different strain of the virus.
“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 agency said in a statement. “The risk of contracting Hantavirus of any kind remains very low for Illinois residents.”
The agency is awaiting lab results from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to confirm it is hantavirus. The test can take up to 10 days.
Three people have died from a hantavirus outbreak on the cruise ship MV Hondius that set off April 1 from Argentina. Nine confirmed cases have been linked to that outbreak. Symptoms can include fever, chills and muscle aches, and usually show between one to eight weeks after exposure.
None of those cruise ship passengers were from Illinois, according to the Illinois and Chicago departments of public health.
The state has had seven cases of hantavirus since 1993, the most recent being in March 2025, according to the state agency.
