Arizona Resident Dies Of Hantavirus Variant Just As Deadly As Cruise Ship Strain

BreakingBusinessArizona Resident Dies Of Hantavirus Variant Just As Deadly As Cruise Ship StrainByMary Whitfill Roeloffs,Forbes Staff. Mary Roeloffs is a Forbes breaking news reporter covering pop culture.Follow AuthorJun 03, 2026, 10:05am EDTToplineAn Arizona resident has died from a case of hantavirus, state health officials announced this week, specifically of a strain named Sin Nombre that is just as deadly as the Andes strain that made headlines this year for killing multiple people in a cruise ship outbreak. Specialist workers carry boxes containing hazardous waste as they begin the process of disinfecting the cruise ship MV Hondius on May 18, 2026.Getty ImagesKey FactsThe Arizona patient is the first to die in the state this year of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, one of two syndromes caused by hantaviruses, which presents as fatigue, fever, muscle aches, abdominal problems, headaches, chills and dizziness in the early stages and evolves to cause chest tightness, coughing, shortness of breath and lungs filling with fluid. Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome is the most common hantavirus syndrome found in the Western Hemisphere and is caused by the type of so-called “New World hantaviruses” most often seen in the U.S., including the Sin Nombre variant. Sin Nombre, which means “nameless virus” in Spanish, is primarily spread by deer mice and usually passes to humans who inhale airborne particles of dried urine, droppings or saliva from infected mice, most commonly in agricultural settings. Unlike the Andes variant, which spread aboard the cruise ship, Sin Nombre is not transmitted person to person but has historically carried a 36% case-fatality rate in the United States. if (!window.cnxel) { window.cnxel = {}; window.cnxel.cmd = []; var iframe = document.createElement('iframe'); iframe.style.display = 'none'; iframe.onload = function() { var iframeDoc = iframe.contentWindow.document; var script = iframeDoc.createElement('script'); script.src = '//cd.elements.video/pl...