Hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius reaches international waters

Eight suspected cases, five confirmed, three dead—a Dutch couple and a German national—aboard an Antarctic expedition ship now approaching the Canary Islands. Spain overrides the regional president's refusal to let the ship dock, citing "international law and humanitarian principles." Twelve countries track disembarked passengers. The virus is Andes hantavirus, the only strain known to transmit between humans. Social media processes the story as a thriller—cruise ship plague, political refusal, ...

The gap: contagion narratives are irresistible entertainment; the quiet sentence "sustained close contact" required for transmission goes unquoted. We want the apocalypse more than we want the data.