Health
Swiss man tests positive for hantavirus after returning from cruise linked to deadly outbreak
Physician discusses deadly hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship
Dr. Zaid Fadul, a physician, discusses the deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship, confirming the Andes strain has a roughly 40% mortality rate. He explains its human-to-human transmission, distinct from other hantaviruses, and highlights the need for a possible eight-week quarantine due to a long latency period.
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A Swiss man who returned from a cruise linked to a deadly hantavirus outbreak has tested positive and been isolated, as health officials say the strain involved can spread between people in rare cases — though the overall risk remains low.
Health authorities in Switzerland confirmed the man recently traveled aboard the MV Hondius, the cruise ship at the center of an outbreak that has already killed three passengers and sickened several others.
Swiss health officials said the man sought medical care after developing symptoms and was immediately placed in isolation. His wife, who traveled with him, is self-isolating but has not shown symptoms.
The officials confirmed his case involves the Andes strain of hantavirus.
RARE HANTAVIRUS HUMAN-TO-HUMAN TRANSMISSION SUSPECTED ON LUXURY CRUISE SHIP WHERE 3 HAVE DIED
The MV Hondius Dutch cruise ship is anchored in the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Verde on May 5, 2026. (Arilson Almeida/AP)
The World Health Organization said the Andes strain is a rare form of hantavirus that can spread between humans through close contact — unlike most hantavirus infections, which are typically linked to exposure to rodent droppings.
South African health authorities said they also identified the Andes strain in two other passengers who were on the ship.
Health workers disembark from the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius cruise ship off Cape Verde on May 4, 2026, after three passengers died and several others fell seriously ill in a suspected hantavirus outbreak. (Qasem Elhato/AP)
The outbreak left the Dutch-flagged cruise ship stranded off the coast of Cape Verde, with nearly 150 passengers and crew on board as authorities scramble to contain the situation.
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WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday that three suspected cases were evacuated from the vessel and are being transported to the Netherlands for treatment.
“At this stage, the overall public health risk remains low,” Tedros said.
Authorities stress that while the Andes strain can spread person-to-person, transmission remains uncommon and typically requires close, prolonged contact.
Health officials have launched monitoring efforts for passengers both on board and those who have already disembarked, coordinating across multiple countries as the investigation continues.
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The ship departed Argentina on April 1 and was scheduled to travel through the Southern Atlantic, including stops in Antarctica, before the outbreak disrupted its itinerary.
Spain has agreed to receive the vessel in the Canary Islands, though local officials have raised concerns about potential risk to residents.
The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius cruise ship remains off Cape Verde on May 4, 2026, after three passengers died and several others fell seriously ill in a suspected hantavirus outbreak. (Qasem Elhato/AP)
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Hantavirus infections are rare but can be severe, with symptoms ranging from fever and fatigue to serious respiratory illness.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Eliminating sugar from your diet may seem like the key to healthy eating, but research suggests it could have unintended effects on digestive health.
A study presented at ENDO 2026, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting, suggests that a total lack of sucrose, or table sugar, may harm gut health and disrupt the body’s natural metabolism.
To explore how the total absence of dietary sugar impacts the body, researchers at the Dasman Diabetes Institute in Kuwait City conducted a 16-week study on two groups of mice. Both groups were placed on a low-fat diet, but with one critical difference.
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One group consumed a low-fat diet that included a standard amount of sucrose, while the other group ate a low-fat diet that was completely sugar-free, according to the study’s press release.
Throughout the trial, the scientists monitored a wide variety of physiological factors, including the animals’ weight, glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, hormone levels, internal inflammation and the specific composition of their gut bacteria.
A total lack of dietary sugar can cause imbalances in the gut bacteria and lead to signs of fatty liver disease, even without any weight gain, researchers said. (iStock)
The study outcome suggested that completely removing sugar caused several unexpected health problems.
“Completely removing sucrose from a low-fat diet may unexpectedly disrupt gut health and promote inflammation and metabolic dysfunction,” Rasheed Ahmad, principal scientist and head of the Immunology & Microbiology Department at the Dasman Diabetes Institute, said in the release.
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Even though the mice on the sugar-free diet did not gain any extra weight compared to the control group, their internal health indicators deteriorated.
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The animals that lacked sucrose developed an imbalance in their gut microbes and increased inflammation within the intestines and liver.
They also showed signs of poor glucose regulation, insulin resistance and cellular changes associated with fatty liver disease, according to the research.
Future dietary guidelines may shift away from strict, absolute sugar bans and instead focus on overall gut health through balanced nutrition. (iStock)
“The findings suggest that complete removal of sucrose from a low-fat diet may negatively affect gut microbiota and metabolic health,” Ahmad concluded.
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While the risks of high-sugar diets are well-established, the researchers noted that little attention has been given to the effects of completely eliminating sugar from low-fat meals.
Scientists say these new findings highlight that dietary carbohydrates play a valuable role in supporting balance between the immune system and the gut microbiome.
Completely cutting sucrose from a low-fat diet can unexpectedly trigger gut inflammation and disrupt the metabolism, experts say. (iStock)
Because this research was conducted on mice over a relatively short 16-week period, further clinical trials are necessary to determine whether a completely sugar-free diet causes the same gut and liver inflammation in humans.
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Additionally, the study focused specifically on removing sucrose from low-fat meals, meaning the results might not apply to people eliminating sugar while following higher-fat or ketogenic eating plans, the researchers noted.
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The team believes that future dietary guidelines may shift away from strict, absolute sugar restrictions and instead place a greater emphasis on maintaining a diverse, healthy population of gut bacteria through balanced nutrition.
“In the long term, these findings could help improve strategies for preventing and managing metabolic disorders, fatty liver disease and chronic inflammatory conditions,” Ahmad said.
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A cure for cancer could be on the horizon in the next decade, according to experts.
During the WSJ Leadership Institute CEO Summit in London last week, Johnson & Johnson Chairman and CEO Joaquin Duato reflected on the pharmaceutical company’s projections on the future of cancer treatment.
In the next 10 years, the goal is to “try to eliminate cancer,” Duato shared.
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“That’s a high goal, and we are already making significant progress in certain cancers,” he said.
Duato used multiple myeloma as an example, noting that the life expectancy is currently 10 years, when it was previously “only single years.”
Joaquin Duato, chairman and CEO of Johnson and Johnson, speaks at the Punchbowl News Conference at Union Station on March 10, 2026, in Washington, DC. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
“We have treatments now that utilize your own immune system to attack the cancer,” he said at the summit. “For patients who were already going into hospice, so they didn’t have any other alternative, they are [at] more than five years, with a single administration, in remission. That [is] spectacular.”
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“When patients see that, they cannot believe that because they have been coming to the hospital every week [for] a decade, having multiple therapies.”
The goal is to “try to eliminate cancer” in the next 10 years, the pharmaceutical executive said. (iStock)
According to Duato, Johnson & Johnson is working to understand the biology of cancer growth and to formulate new technologies to address it.
“It’s realistic to believe that we are going to cure certain cancers, and some others we’re going to turn into chronic diseases,” he predicted.
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“Cancer is an important thing – I cannot think about anybody who has not been touched by cancer,” he went on. “But there are many other opportunities for us to actually advance science, to address very important social problems.”
Duato called out dementia as another “important problem” in need of a solution.
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He predicted that life expectancy, which has risen steadily over the past century, will continue to increase as longevity technologies and solutions advance, improving quality of life along the way.
Duato commented that J&J has been optimistic about the role artificial intelligence will play in the future of healthcare, calling it a “force multiplier.”
Biomarkers and AI can help with the earlier diagnosis of cancer, as well as a more advanced and personalized approach to surgery, a doctor noted. (iStock)
Fox News senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel agreed with Duato’s outlook on the future of cancer care, noting that certain cancers will turn into chronic diseases while others will find outright cures.
“Advances [will be] based on the use of AI to help guide targeted treatments with expanding knowledge of cancer mutations and how to target them,” he predicted, speaking to Fox News Digital.
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Siegel added that biomarkers and AI can help with earlier diagnoses, as well as a more advanced and personalized approach to surgery.
J&J recently acquired Firefly Bio, a biotech firm that produces drugs that enter cancer cells to “target certain proteins that contain difficult to treat gene mutations,” the doctor added.
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