N.C. tracks M/V Hondius hantavirus exposure

May 12, 2026

Summary

North Carolina said one resident was aboard the M/V Hondius, but officials reported no current hantavirus cases in the state.

Why this matters

The update informs North Carolina residents about a monitored exposure tied to an international outbreak and states that the current in-state risk remains low. It also outlines symptoms, monitoring timelines, and how the virus spreads.

North Carolina health officials said they were monitoring a hantavirus outbreak aboard the M/V Hondius after federal officials confirmed that one North Carolina resident was on board.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the person was evacuated with other remaining U.S. passengers to the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s National Quarantine Unit.

Officials said they would not release more details about the individual to protect privacy.

There were no current hantavirus cases in North Carolina, and state health officials said the risk of infection in the state remained extremely low.

The department said the CDC and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services were coordinating with state, federal, and international partners. Federal health authorities will determine when passengers return to their home states.

Officials said all passengers will be monitored for symptoms for 42 days after their last possible exposure, whether they remain in Nebraska or return home.

NCDHHS said the virus involved was Andes virus, the only hantavirus known to spread from person to person, generally through close, prolonged contact. State health officials said Andes virus is not known to occur naturally in the United States.

People usually contract hantavirus through contact with rodents, including exposure to urine, droppings, or saliva. Symptoms can develop four to 42 days after exposure and may include fever, fatigue, deep muscle aches, and, in some cases, severe respiratory distress.

Officials said there was no specific treatment for hantavirus infection, and patients should receive supportive care, including rest, hydration, and treatment of symptoms.

Hantavirus cases are rare in North Carolina, with one case reported in 1995. More information is available on the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and CDC hantavirus webpages.

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lejeune lead

N.C. tracks M/V Hondius hantavirus exposure

North Carolina said one resident was aboard the M/V Hondius, but officials reported no current hantavirus cases in the state.

Full story +

North Carolina health officials said they were monitoring a hantavirus outbreak aboard the M/V Hondius after federal officials confirmed that one North Carolina resident was on board.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the person was evacuated with other remaining U.S. passengers to the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s National Quarantine Unit.

Officials said they would not release more details about the individual to protect privacy.

There were no current hantavirus cases in North Carolina, and state health officials said the risk of infection in the state remained extremely low.

The department said the CDC and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services were coordinating with state, federal, and international partners. Federal health authorities will determine when passengers return to their home states.

Officials said all passengers will be monitored for symptoms for 42 days after their last possible exposure, whether they remain in Nebraska or return home.

NCDHHS said the virus involved was Andes virus, the only hantavirus known to spread from person to person, generally through close, prolonged contact. State health officials said Andes virus is not known to occur naturally in the United States.

People usually contract hantavirus through contact with rodents, including exposure to urine, droppings, or saliva. Symptoms can develop four to 42 days after exposure and may include fever, fatigue, deep muscle aches, and, in some cases, severe respiratory distress.

Officials said there was no specific treatment for hantavirus infection, and patients should receive supportive care, including rest, hydration, and treatment of symptoms.

Hantavirus cases are rare in North Carolina, with one case reported in 1995. More information is available on the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and CDC hantavirus webpages.
Lejeune Community

Jacksonville woman faces kidnapping, assault charges

The suspect was being held without bond at the Onslow County Jail. Her court date was set for Tuesday, May 12.

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A Jacksonville woman was accused of kidnapping and assaulting a pregnant woman during an incident Monday, according to Jacksonville Police Department warrants.

Amy Feterowski, 34, was arrested May 11 and charged with felony second-degree kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, assault on a pregnant woman, simple assault, and three counts of assault on a government official, records show.

According to the warrants, Feterowski restrained the woman without her consent, held her at gunpoint, placed her in a headlock, and forced her down a hallway into another room while pointing a pistol.

Authorities said the woman was pregnant at the time. The warrants said Feterowski pushed on the woman’s stomach while she was on the floor, causing pain.

Police also said another person was injured while trying to disarm Feterowski during the incident.

During her arrest, officers said Feterowski tried to bite multiple Jacksonville police officers.
Lejeune Community

Holly Ridge expands fire coverage with 24-hour staff

Town officials said Holly Ridge Fire Medics will continue responding to medical calls across all incorporated areas.

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Holly Ridge expanded fire protection services by adding 24-hour paid staffing to the Holly Ridge Volunteer Fire Department for the first time.

Town leaders said recent budget increases allowed the town to hire full-time firefighters, giving the department around-the-clock coverage and improving response capabilities.

The added staffing means the department can serve residents within a 5-mile radius of the station more consistently. Previously, limited staffing required Holly Ridge to rely on the Turkey Creek Volunteer Fire Department for coverage in areas including the Summerhouse development, Penny Lane, and Dolph Everett Road.

Under the changes, Holly Ridge firefighters will cover Penny Lane, Dolph Everett Road, and much of the Summerhouse community. Turkey Creek will continue serving areas outside the 5-mile radius, including parts of Summerhouse and the Simon Lane project area.
Africa

Museveni begins new term as son gains influence

Museveni will begin another term as attention shifts to his son, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, and questions about Uganda’s succession.

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Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, 81, will be sworn in Tuesday for another five-year term, extending a rule that began in 1986.

As Museveni starts what many Ugandans see as one of his final terms, attention has shifted to his son, army chief Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who led rehearsals for the military parade marking Museveni’s eighth inauguration in Kampala.

Kainerugaba, 52, has said he wants to succeed his father, describing that goal as unstoppable. Analysts and political figures say he has become increasingly influential as Museveni ages.

Kainerugaba’s rise in the military has long drawn scrutiny from critics, who called it the “Muhoozi Project” and said it was meant to prepare him for the presidency. Museveni and Kainerugaba often denied that, but the possibility of a family succession has become more pronounced in the last two years.

Parliament Speaker Anita Among said last month that lawmakers would support Kainerugaba’s presidential ambitions.

Museveni has no apparent rivals within the ruling party. But Kainerugaba is seen as facing a difficult electoral path against opponents, including Bobi Wine, the opposition leader who rejected the outcome of the January election that gave Museveni another term.

Museveni first took power by force, saying Africa’s problem was leaders who overstayed. He later said his criticism applied to those who stayed without an electoral mandate. He is credited by supporters with helping bring relative peace and stability, but critics point to the removal of term and age limits, and to rivals being jailed or sidelined.

Lawmakers recently passed legislation aimed at deterring foreign interference. Wine’s National Unity Platform called it “unconstitutional, irrelevant and brought in bad faith to further persecute those with divergent views.”
Latin America

Bolivia reissues warrant after Morales misses trial

Morales is accused of fathering a child with a 15-year-old girl while in office.

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A Bolivian judge reissued an arrest warrant for former President Evo Morales on Monday after he did not appear for the start of his trial in Tarija on charges of trafficking a minor.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office said Morales’s “unjustified absence” confirmed his fugitive status and warranted an arrest order and a travel ban. The hearing was suspended.

Morales is accused of fathering a child with a 15-year-old girl while in office. The girl’s parents are accused of consenting to the relationship in exchange for favors from Morales. He has denied the accusations.

Morales, Bolivia’s first Indigenous president, governed from 2006 to 2019. He has remained in his coca-growing political stronghold of Chapare since late 2024, guarded by supporters who have said they would resist any attempt to arrest him.

Authorities first issued an arrest warrant for Morales in October 2024, but did not carry it out after his supporters blocked roads for 24 days, preventing officers from reaching the region where he was staying.

A court had already found Morales in contempt in January 2025 after he missed a pretrial detention hearing.

Wilfredo Chavez, one of Morales’s lawyers, told Agence France-Presse on Friday that neither Morales nor his lawyers would appear because they had not been “properly notified.” Chavez said the court had not sent the summons to Morales’s address and instead served it through an edict.

Morales resigned in 2019 after elections tainted by fraud and went into exile in Mexico and later Argentina before returning to Bolivia a year later. He was later barred from seeking a fourth term in last year’s presidential election.
World

Pakistan hosted Iranian aircraft during crisis, CBS reported

A senior Pakistani official rejected the claims.

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Pakistan allowed Iranian military aircraft to park at its airfields during the recent U.S.-Iran crisis while also acting as a diplomatic intermediary between Washington and Tehran, according to CBS News.

CBS reported that U.S. officials said multiple Iranian aircraft were sent to Pakistan Air Force Base Nur Khan, outside Rawalpindi, days after President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire with Iran. The aircraft reportedly included an Iranian Air Force RC-130, a reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering variant of the C-130 Hercules.

The report drew new attention to Pakistan’s role during the crisis. Pakistani officials were also trying to position Islamabad as a diplomatic intermediary to help prevent a broader regional war.

Pakistan has long sought to balance its security relationship with the United States and its ties with neighboring Iran, which shares a roughly 565-mile border with Pakistan. U.S. officials have viewed Pakistan as an important regional partner because it borders Iran, Afghanistan, India, and China and has access to the Arabian Sea.
Finance & Markets

U.S. stock futures slip ahead of April inflation data

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were little changed. S&P 500 futures slipped 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.3%.

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U.S. stock futures fell early Tuesday as investors awaited April consumer inflation data for signals on the economy and the path of Federal Reserve interest rates.

Stocks ended slightly higher Monday, with gains in semiconductor shares helping lift the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to record highs.

Markets were focused on the April Consumer Price Index report, due Tuesday morning. Economists expect consumer prices to have risen 3.7% in April.

Investors will get another inflation update Wednesday with the release of wholesale price data.
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Study finds amoeba in Yellowstone, Grand Teton

No infections or deaths had been linked to the sampled sites.

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A study published in ES&T Water found Naegleria fowleri, often called the “brain-eating amoeba,” in water samples from three of five recreation areas surveyed in the western U.S., including Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.

The study, conducted between 2016 and 2024 by researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey, Montana State University, and Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, tested 185 samples from 40 thermally affected areas at Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Olympic National Park, and Newberry National Volcanic Monument.

Researchers detected Naegleria fowleri in 63 samples, or 34%. Olympic National Park in Washington and Newberry National Volcanic Monument in Oregon tested negative.

The organism was found in Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Lake Mead. In Grand Teton, researchers reported a positive sample in 2019 at Granite Hot Spring, in the pool above the recreational area. At Lake Mead, four of five hot spring sample sites tested positive between 2018 and 2019: Blue Point, Boy Scout, Nevada, and Roger’s.

Naegleria fowleri lives in soil and warm freshwater, including lakes, rivers, ponds, and hot springs. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, infection can occur when contaminated water enters the nose and reaches the brain, causing primary amebic meningoencephalitis. Fewer than 10 people in the U.S. die each year from the infection, the agency said.

The CDC said 167 cases were reported in the U.S. between 1962 and 2024, and four people survived. Symptoms can begin with headache, fever, and nausea, then progress to confusion, seizures, coma, and death, often within seven to 10 days.

Researchers said in the study that Naegleria fowleri has moved northward since 1962 and that warming global temperatures may allow that trend to continue. They called for better monitoring, risk management, and public awareness.
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iPhone, Android texts gain end-to-end encryption

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End-to-end encrypted messaging began rolling out in beta Monday for conversations between iPhone and Android users running the latest software.

The feature is designed to make messages harder for hackers, governments, or platform companies to read while they are in transit. Until now, messages sent between iPhone and Android devices could not be end-to-end encrypted, though Apple’s iMessage has used encryption since its 2011 launch, and Android users have been able to send encrypted messages to one another since 2021.

The update follows Apple’s adoption of Rich Communication Services (RCS), a messaging standard that adds features including typing indicators, read receipts, emoji reactions, longer message lengths, and encryption. Apple had not supported RCS since 2020, but added support in 2023.

Before that change, texts between iPhone and Android users often caused problems in group chats and reduced photo and video quality. Google had pressed Apple to adopt RCS, and the divide between iPhone “blue bubbles” and Android “green bubbles” became a recognizable part of the debate over cross-platform texting.
Military & National Security

‘Stolen valor’ claims draw scrutiny on Capitol Hill

“Stolen valor” refers to falsely claiming military honors or wearing unearned medals. Under some circumstances, it can be a crime under the Stolen Valor Act.

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Questions about politicians’ military records have surfaced on Capitol Hill and in several states.

During a House committee hearing in late April, Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., accused Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., of “stolen valor” and entered documents into the record to support her claims.

Mills denied the allegation, accused Mace of slander and defamation, and entered Army records that he said verified his awards.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz also faced scrutiny in 2024 after Kamala Harris selected him as her running mate. The claims centered on a 2018 video in which Walz said he carried weapons in war, despite never seeing active combat. The campaign later walked back the statement.

In Maryland, questions about Gov. Wes Moore’s military record have persisted since a 2022 report by Fox 45 in Baltimore highlighted discrepancies, including a Bronze Star medal listed on a 2006 White House fellowship application that was not included in his official military file.

At the time, Moore called the report a “smear campaign.” Two years later, The New York Times obtained a copy of the application, which said in part, “for my work, the 82nd airborne division have awarded me the Bronze Star medal.” Moore later called the claim an “honest mistake.” He was formally awarded the Bronze Star in December 2024.

Spotlight on Maryland’s investigative team also reported gaps and delays in Moore’s military record.

Moore has declined calls to release all of his military and academic records. His Republican challengers in the governor’s race have said they would release their own records to contrast with his decision.

Vatz said Moore’s Bronze Star controversy was unlikely to threaten his bid for a second term, but said the issue could carry broader national implications. President Trump has also accused Moore of “stolen valor,” saying Moore allowed that misconception to stand for more than a decade.