CONCERNS ABOUT HANTAVIRUS have gripped the world. At the time of reporting, 11 passengers on the MV Hondius have been diagnosed with a form of hantavirus known as Andes virus and three are dead.
While multiple health organizations have asserted this is not a COVID pandemic level threat, hantavirus is freaky for other reasons. It has a high mortality rate—up to 50 percent—and can stay in an infected person for up to 42 days. The virus also stays in your sperm for years. Yes, years.
In your personal hantavirus research, you might have heard about a 2023 study published in the journal Viruses. In the study, researchers found traces of hantavirus in human sperm for up to six years. That might suggest that hantavirus can be lurking in the background, just waiting to infect sexual partners.
The reality, however, is a little more complicated. MH contacted several urologists and infectious disease experts to break down the viral claim circulating online.
What Did the Study Find?
IN THE 2023 study, researchers analyzed data from a 55-year-old man who contracted Andes hantavirus during his 2016 travels. The team looked at blood and semen samples when he was sick and nearly six years after his recovery. During that six-year follow-up, researchers found detectable levels of Andes hantavirus RNA in his semen. (RNA is the genetic material for viruses, kind of like their DNA).
“Our results show that Andes hantavirus has the potential for sexual transmission,” the researchers wrote in the study. But here’s where we need to dive a little deeper.
Detecting Viruses in Sperm Isn’t New
FOR STARTERS, DETECTING viruses in sperm isn’t new. “The genetic material of many viruses can be found in semen for prolonged periods of time,” says Amesh A. Adalja, MD, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
“This is not uncommon and is actually seen in other well-known viral infections which are found within the semen, including COVID and even infections like Ebola,” adds Boback Berookhim, MD, urologist at Northwell’s Lenox Hill Hospital.
So hantavirus is one of many viruses that can live in your sperm. Does this mean you can sexually transmit hantavirus? When MH asked experts, the answer was a resounding no.
“They were able to detect RNA in this study, but they weren’t able to cultivate the virus and identify any infectious particles,” says Thomas Russo, MD, professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York. In other words, scientists weren’t able to grow the virus in a lab after collecting the sample.
“The detection of genetic material is not the same thing as viable infectious virus,” emphasizes Dr. Adalja. “There is no evidence of sexual transmission of this virus.”
Even if there were infectious particles in semen, Russo says it’s unclear if they would infect someone else through sex. He adds that currently the only proven route of viral transmission is through the respiratory tract through aerosolized particles.
Why Do Viruses Linger in Semen?
THE MALE REPRODUCTIVE tract and the testes are “immunologically privileged,” explains Dr. Berookhim. “Meaning, [male reproductive areas] tend to be ‘hidden’ from the immune system as sperm cells have a different genetic makeup than the rest of the body and would otherwise be under constant attack.” As a result, the body may not clear viral loads from this area as efficiently as it does elsewhere.
Nicholas Tadros, MD, urologist and director of Men’s Sexual Health at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, adds another potential (and reassuring) reason. He hypothesizes that scientists are actually detecting the RNA fragments of an already dead virus. So even though there is RNA present, there’s no evidence of a true and active infection.
How Much Should You Be Concerned?
AS OF RIGHT now, there have been no confirmed cases of hantavirus from this outbreak outside of some passengers who were on the MV Hondius. Even if you or a partner were infected with hantavirus, there is no strong data to suggest it would become a sexually transmitted disease—just a single case report that detected some hantavirus RNA from one guy.
“In the unlikely event that you do contract hantavirus, once you recover, the chances are very low that it will persist, even in known hantavirus patients,” says Dr. Tadros. Russo agrees adding that the true take-home message is not to panic.
Korin Miller is a freelance writer specializing in general wellness, sexual health and relationships, and lifestyle trends, with work appearing in Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Self, Glamour, and more. She has a master’s degree from American University, lives by the beach, and hopes to own a teacup pig and taco truck one day.
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