Hantavirus Can Remain in Semen for SIX YEARS

Hantavirus can remain present in semen for up to six years and could be sexually transmitted.

A study, published by Swiss researchers, focuses on the case of a 55-year-old man who was infected by the virus while in South America.

Despite disappearing from his blood, urine and respiratory tract, genetic material from the virus remained present in his semen for 71 months—a month shy of six years.

“Taken together, our results show [the virus] has the potential for sexual transmission,” the research team wrote.

In normal cases, hantavirus spreads to humans via rodents and can caused severe respiratory issues with a death rate of between 25% and 40%.

The US Army already ran a clinical trial with an Andes strain hantavirus DNA gene-therapy injection — the exact same strain behind the cruise ship outbreak.

98% of participants suffered adverse events.

The DNA plasmid was created at the Fort Detrick BSL-4 army lab. https://t.co/FWhIwB7Pge pic.twitter.com/XzEOQVTg33

— Nicolas Hulscher, MPH (@NicHulscher) May 7, 2026

Since the discovery of the disease about the cruise ship MV Hondius, three people have died and eight further cases have been reported.

It’s believed the Andes strain of the virus, which is known to be able to pass from human to human, was acquired by one of the passengers while in Argentina.

🇦🇷 The Argentine town scarred by a 2018 hantavirus outbreak

The recent hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship has caused painful memories to resurface in Epuyen, a village in Argentina's Patagonia region. pic.twitter.com/dDcMnsHqIg

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) May 16, 2026

The Swiss study suggests male reproductive fluids could serve as a reservoir for the virus to persist in the human body for long periods of time.

Researchers found limited changes to the genetic material detected, suggesting a very slow replication rate while the virus is in semen.

This phenomenon has been documented in other viruses such as Zika and Ebola.

World Health Organisation protocols says the semen of male Ebola cases should be tested every three months and should not be considered safe until two consecutive negative tests.

At this stage, it is not clear how often sexual transmission of hantavirus does or could occur, but the scientists behind the study say it is a biologically plausible mechanism and more research should be carried out.

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