How Ebola Compares to Hantavirus as ‘Small Number' of Americans Impacted in DRC

A "small number" of Americans are being withdrawn from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda after exposure to an Ebola outbreak, U.S. health officials said, not long after the hantavirus outbreak aboard an Antarctic expedition cruise ship, which has left dozens of Americans under monitoring following possible exposure.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it is assisting those "directly affected" by the outbreak following the World Health Organization's declaration of a public health emergency of international concern. The outbreak has so far included 10 confirmed cases and 336 suspected cases-88 of them fatal-in the DRC, along with two confirmed cases and one death in Uganda.

While the risk to the American public remains “low,” the CDC said, the outbreak is of notable concern given that associated death rates range from 25 to 50 percent, per CDC data.

This comes shortly after a hantavirus outbreak was declared on the MV Hondius cruise ship in April, leaving 41 people across the U.S. under monitoring who were either passengers on board in the ship, or who may have been exposed to the virus indirectly.

Newsweek has contacted the CDC via email outside of regular working hours on Monday morning for comment.

Ebola vs. Hantavirus Fatality Rates

Ebola and hantavirus are both serious diseases – each with high fatality rates. Hantavirus can cause hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome, which has a fatality rate of 50 percent, while Ebola fatality rates have varied in the past from between 25 to 90 percent, according to the WHO.

Though both have high fatality rates, the Ebola virus is being touted as more concerning as it is considered more contagious, and there have already been a higher number of reported cases than the hantavirus outbreak. The Ebola virus also has a history of rapid outbreak expansion, and often occurs in areas with known transmission challenges, while hantavirus is thought to be a more containable virus.

How Do You Contract Ebola Virus?

Both viruses tend to spread to humans through close contact with infected animals. People typically get hantavirus through contact with infected rodents or their urine, droppings or saliva, while the Ebola virus can infect humans when they have been in close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals – usually fruit bats, chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys, forest antelope or porcupines found ill or dead or in the rainforest.

Both can also spread between humans, though in the case of hantavirus, human-to-human transmission has limited documentation. Ebola can spread between people from direct contact with the blood or body fluids of a person who is sick with or has died from Ebola disease, or from surfaces contaminated with those infected fluids.

Ebola, Hantavirus Symptoms Explained

Symptoms of hantavirus can take more time to develop in humans than Ebola, from between one to eight weeks after exposure, while symptoms of Ebola tend to present after two to 21 days.

Hantavirus causes symptoms like fever, headache, muscle aches and gastrointestinal symptoms such as abdominal pain, nausea or vomiting, while Ebola causes symptoms including fever, fatigue, malaise, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain rash, and symptoms of impaired kidney and liver functions.

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This story was originally published May 18, 2026 at 2:01 AM.