What you need to know about hantavirus (don’t panic)

NewsletterMorning Rounds What you need to know about hantavirus (don’t panic) The latest on the abortion pill, paternal deaths, and more health news from Morning Rounds Manage alerts for this article Email this article Share this article By Theresa GaffneyMay 5, 2026 Morning Rounds Writer and Reporter Theresa Gaffney[email protected]Theresa Gaffney is the lead Morning Rounds writer and reports on health care, new research, and public policy, with a particular interest in mental health, gender-affirming care, and LGBTQ+ patient communities. You can reach Theresa on Signal at theresagaff.97. Good morning. Yesterday, the writer Yiyun Li won a Pulitzer Prize for her heartbreaking memoir, “Things in Nature Merely Grow.” Lately, I’ve been reading her short stories. Here’s one for after you’ve read the news, about a health care worker of sorts: “A Sheltered Woman.” The latest on the abortion pill A Monday order from the Supreme Court, signed by Justice Samuel Alito, temporarily restored broad access to mifepristone after a federal appeals court ruling on Friday jeopardized access to the abortion medication at pharmacies or through the mail. The Supreme Court order will remain in effect until the end of the day next Monday, giving both sides time to respond while the court considers the issue. The AP has more details.Advertisement “Even if the ruling has temporarily restored access, the case should concern every leader in biotech and pharmaceuticals, regardless of where they stand on reproductive health,” biotech executive Grace E. Colón writes in a new First Opinion essay. Read more from her on how the case could impact all types of drug development. What you need to know about hantavirus (don’t panic) What appears to be an outbreak of hantavirus on a ship anchored near the tiny mid-Atlantic nation of Cabo Verde has infectious diseases experts puzzled. Puzzled, and concerned for the passengers and crew on the m/v Hondius, but not at this point alarmed for the greater public. Hantavirus is spread by rodents, who shed the virus in their droppings and urine. Confirmed cases are often people who’ve been cleaning up a cabin after a winter. It’s not an illness associated with cruise ships and it’s rarely transmitted person to person.Advertisement So far there appear to have been seven cases, three of them fatal. Only two so far have tested positive for hantavirus. The WHO said Monday that planning is underway to medically evacuate three ill people on the boat the Netherlands, the cruise line’s home base.About 150 passengers — 17 of them Americans — and crew remain onboard, confined to quarters, while public health authorities try to determine the source of the infection. The incubation period of hantavirus can be several weeks, so figuring out where and when people got infected — and whether any human-to-human spread occurred — could prove challenging. We’ll keep an eye on this. — Helen Branswell Should we be tracking paternal deaths There’s a long-established crisis in the U.S. when it comes to maternal mortality. Both federal and state agencies monitor maternal and infant health, and a new study argues that early deaths among fathers should also be systemically tracked. But in an initial, localized attempt, the findings point to the opposite of a public health crisis: Fatherhood was associated with reduced mortality. “The authors are breaking ground by framing preventable paternal death as a family health issue,” said physician Neel Shah. Still, he and other maternal health experts pushed back on the idea that paternal deaths should be monitored alongside maternal deaths. Read more from STAT’s Annalisa Merelli on the discussion around how to frame paternal mortality. ‘We are like aliens for many people.’ That’s how one health professional who studied abroad described returning to Uzbekistan. Bringing new medical expertise back to one’s home country can come with major challenges. In a new First Opinion essay, international education expert Maia Chankseliani describes what she calls the other half of the brain drain story, based on her own interviews with internationally educated professionals who return to their countries of origin. “Brain drain is a powerful metaphor,” Chankseliani writes. “But as a governing frame, it obscures as much as it reveals.” Read more.Advertisement Hospitalizations related to cold temps are rising The number of hospitalizations for cold-related illnesses tripled over a 25-year period, according to a study published yesterday in Health Affairs. Researchers analyzed patient data and found that hospitalizations for hypothermia, frostbite, and other complications from exposure to excessive cold increased from 42 per 100,000 overall hospitalizations in 1998 to nearly 123 per 100,000 in 2022. People with autism, substance use disorder, other mental health disorders, and housing insecurity were more likely to experience cold-related hospitalizations than their peers, the research found. They were also far more likely to die in the hospital than other patients. The researchers recommend expanding programs providing home energy assistance and emergency shelter. What we’re reading A long, strange trip: How the GOP came to embrace psychedelic drugs, New York Times The internet is obsessed with ovulation, The Atlantic Top lawmaker takes aim at doctor lobby, linking AMA’s billing codes to fraud fight, STAT RFK Jr’s new podcast is as weird as you’d expect, Wired Johnson & Johnson advances IBD therapy, despite trial miss, STAT health care Submit a correction requestReprints Theresa Gaffney Morning Rounds Writer and Reporter Theresa Gaffney is the lead Morning Rounds writer and reports on health care, new research, and public policy, with a particular interest in mental health, gender-affirming care, and LGBTQ+ patient communities. You can reach Theresa on Signal at theresagaff.97. 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