Is hantavirus contagious between people?

Hantaviruses cause zoonotic infection — humans typically catch them by inhaling aerosolized rodent urine, droppings, or saliva, or rarely by rodent bite. Person-to-person transmission has been documented only for Andes virus, the agent responsible for hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in Patagonia. The first cluster establishing human-to-human spread was investigated after the 1996 Bariloche, Argentina outbreak; subsequent clusters in 2018–2019 in Epuyén, Argentina, and the 2026 MV Hondius cruise-ship outbreak have reinforced the finding. Even with Andes virus, transmission requires close and sustained contact; casual contact, coughing, or sneezing across rooms has not been shown to cause transmission. WHO continues to assess broader epidemic risk as low.