RFK Jr.: "We're not worried" about the hantavirus spreading after the cruise ship outbreak.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Monday that the U.S. has the hantavirus "under control." During a press conference in the Oval Office about mental health, a reporter asked President Trump whether he regretted withdrawing from the World Health Organization (WHO) in light of the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship that had more than a dozen Americans on board. Trump maintained he was "glad" to have left the WHO and reiterated his belief that the U.S. was paying too much into the organization. When asked if U.S. health authorities are prepared to take on a potential outbreak of hantavirus in spite of the funding and staffing cuts carried out under Trump’s second term, Kennedy said, "We've had CDC teams on it from day one. “I was speaking with the University of Nebraska since the second day of the outbreak. I was speaking with Gov. Bill of Nebraska. We had a CDC team at Tenerife. We had airplanes ready to take the patients, the 17 patients off the vessel and transport,” Kennedy continued. “Two of them went to Atlanta. One of those was symptomatic. They’re in a biocontainment lab in Atlanta. The other 16 are now in Nebraska. One of them is symptomatic.” “We have this under control and we’re not worried about it,” he added. Kennedy’s assessment reflects that of what other health authorities have said of the deadly hantavirus transmission that occurred aboard the MV Hondius. The WHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have both stated the risk to the public remains low. In a briefing on Monday, WHO officials said the last of the passengers and crew aboard the MV Hondius will have disembarked by the end of the day. “They are departing Canary Islands by specially arranged flights,” WHO Manager of Health Emergencies Communication Nyka Alexander said in the briefing. “Nobody is traveling on commercial flights.” Oliver le Polain, head of the WHO’s Epidemiology and Analytics for Response unit, said nine cases of hantavirus tied to the cruise ship have been confirmed so far, including the three deaths that occurred. The most recent case was reported by France regarding a passenger who disembarked the ship on Sunday and is currently in isolation. One case is currently inconclusive. Tags Donald Trump hantavirus Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.