CDC sidelines itself as hantavirus cruise ship outbreak grabs global attention

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4. ABC: The CDC " has been missing in action, according to a number of experts."

Experts wonder 'Where is the CDC?' as a hantavirus outbreak unfolds on a cruise ship

Public health experts are questioning the U.S. government's response to the hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship that involves Americans

https://abcnews.com/Health/wireStory/experts-cdc-hantavirus-outbreak-unfolds-cruise-ship-132808623?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

By MIKE STOBBE AP medical writer May 9, 2026, 8:06 AM



NEW YORK -- No quick dispatching of disease investigators. No news conference to inform the public. No timely health alerts to doctors.

In the midst of a strange outbreak of hantavirus on a cruise ship that involves Americans and is making headlines around the world, the U.S. government's top public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has been missing in action, according to a number of experts.

“We seem to have things under very good control," President Donald Trump told reporters Friday evening.

But experts say the situation has not spiraled because, unlike COVID-19 or measles or the flu, hantavirus does not spread easily. It has been experts in other countries, not the United States, who have been dealing primarily with the outbreak in the past week.

“The CDC is not even a player," said Lawrence Gostin, an international public health expert at Georgetown University. “I've never seen that before.”..............