The patient is believed to have been infected during a stay in Eastern Europe several months ago and sought medical care after developing symptoms consistent with the virus, according to the Jerusalem Post and other Israeli media reports. An antibody test first indicated exposure, and a follow-up PCR test confirmed the presence of the virus’s genetic material.
The individual is in stable condition, has not required intensive care or strict isolation, and remains under medical observation. Authorities have not released details about the patient’s identity, place of residence, or the medical center handling the case.
However, Israel’s Health Ministry pushed back against reports suggesting a new or active case. In an official statement issued Thursday, the ministry said there are currently no active hantavirus cases and no one hospitalized with the disease in the country. The ministry acknowledged an unconfirmed report of a patient who returned from Europe with hantavirus in December 2025, but stressed that no recent infections have been recorded.
Dr. Daniel Grupel, of the clinical microbiology and infectious diseases department at Hadassah Hospital, told the Times of Israel that he was not aware of any recent hantavirus case in Israel. He said the virus involved in the earlier report was not the type that spreads between humans.
The apparent discrepancy between the Maariv report and the Health Ministry’s denial has not been fully resolved. Some news outlets have reported the case as Israel’s first diagnosed hantavirus infection, while the ministry maintains there is no current threat.
Hantavirus infections are rare in Israel. A handful of cases have been documented in the past, all involving Israelis infected while traveling abroad — mainly in South America and the United States — or visitors diagnosed in Israel after exposure overseas.
The case has drawn attention partly because of a separate, ongoing hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean. That outbreak involves the Andes strain of the virus, which is native to South America and is one of the few hantavirus strains known to spread, in rare instances, from person to person.
Three passengers on the MV Hondius — a Dutch couple and a German citizen — have died, and at least eight confirmed or suspected cases have been linked to the voyage. The ship, carrying around 147 passengers and crew from 23 countries, departed from Ushuaia in southern Argentina on April 1 and traveled through Antarctica and remote South Atlantic islands before anchoring off Cape Verde. The vessel is now heading to the Canary Islands after Spain agreed to allow it to dock for medical and humanitarian reasons.
Health authorities stressed that the case reported in Israel involves a European strain of hantavirus, not the Andes strain found on the cruise ship. European strains are generally transmitted from rodents to humans and do not spread between people.
The World Health Organization has said the risk to the general public from the cruise ship outbreak remains low and that there is no evidence the virus spreads through ordinary day-to-day contact. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is monitoring American citizens who were on board the ship or connected to the voyage as part of contact-tracing efforts.
Hantaviruses are a family of viruses carried mainly by rodents. People usually become infected by inhaling tiny particles from dried urine, droppings, or saliva from infected animals, often while cleaning enclosed spaces where rodents have been present. Early symptoms can resemble a common viral illness — fever, chills, muscle aches, headache, and nausea. Some strains can lead to severe lung or kidney complications. There is no specific antiviral treatment for most hantavirus infections; care focuses on supportive measures such as oxygen therapy and fluid management.
Dr. Grupel urged the public not to be alarmed. “I think this is a really bad situation for the people on the cruise ship right now,” he said, according to the Times of Israel, “but Hantavirus is probably not the next pandemic, and there is no reason for anxiety in the general public.”