Is it Time to Panic?

“Beware of the Leopard”, from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, via Wikimedia Commons

In the classic scene from the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (I refer, of course, to the 1981 TV version), Arthur Dent confronts the person trying to bulldoze his house, who explains that the plans for the demolition had been placed on display.

“On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar.”

“That’s the display department.”

“With a torch.”

“The lights had probably gone.”

“So had the stairs.”

“But you did see the notice, didn’t you?”

“Oh, yes. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet, stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign outside the door, saying ‘Beware of the Leopard’”

While I frequently recall the brilliance of the Guide, this time I was thinking about the recent Hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius. This story has been getting a lot of attention, and I find the nature of that attention very interesting.

Should we be panicking about Hantavirus being a new COVID?

No. It doesn’t work the same way, it doesn’t behave the same way, and it doesn’t spread the same way.

Should we be concerned?

That’s harder to answer.

With regard to the current situation, most governments appear to be responding appropriately. They are quarantining, contact tracing, and all the other things they should be doing. Am I worried?

Not really. For the most part, I’m confident that the organizations responsible for addressing issues like this are doing what they need to do. As an example, the Director-General of The World Health Organization (WHO) sent a message to the people of Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, describing the process by which the remaining passengers on the MV Hondius would be offboarded and transported home in a way which ensured maximum isolation and safety.

Similarly, in Canada, organizations like Ontario’s Ministry of Health are monitoring the situation and tracking the progress of possible cases. The WHO has not declared any sort of emergency, and the most recent WHO advisory on 28-May-2026 seems to be focused mainly on precautions.

And then there’s the US.

The US coverage has been strange, to say the least. I’ve seen coverage that suggests that everything is being handled well... at the state level. That fills me with confidence, actually – it appears that state infrastructure is still functioning, at least in some states, and that there are still people who will deal with issues like this in a professional way.

At the federal level, though, the initial response was about what you would expect, with the public trying to figure out what’s going on, the WHO trying to be realistic, and the corporate media apparently trying to create a panic.

The real panic, though, should be around the disasters created by RFK Jr, both directly and indirectly. It’s really hard to grasp the scope, actually. I’ve discussed his actions around childhood vaccines, and talked about the pseudoscientific trash-heap that he calls an updated food pyramid, but haven’t really dug into pandemic preparedness.

As an example of the impact that Trump and RFK Jr have had on global health, just look at the recent Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The US cannot be blamed for the outbreak, but their departure from the World Health Organization has certainly affected the global response. It’s bad enough that the withdrawal will affect communication and coordination between WHO and the US, but the withdrawal of funding also reduced surveillance and containment systems.

The HHS fact sheet on the withdrawal is interesting, and worth commenting on.

It begins with a section labelled “Fulfilling a Promise to America”.

“On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14155 formally initiating the United States' withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO). This decision was driven by profound failures in the WHO's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic originating in Wuhan, China; its persistent refusal to implement necessary reforms; and its lack of accountability, transparency, and independence. In fulfillment of this directive and following the required one-year notice period, the United States Government formally exited from WHO on January 22, 2026.”

Mostly fiction. The Executive Order part is correct, but the rest is bullshit. There is certainly justifiable criticism of WHO’s response to COVID-19, but this is mostly about Trump’s colossal mishandling of overall COVID-19 response and the WHO’s refusal to agree with various lies. (I would note that, in my opinion, the US would have suffered even more, but for the heroic efforts of Dr Anthony Fauci – at least until he was pushed out.)

“To fulfill President Trump's Executive Order, the United States Government has taken the following actions:

- All U.S. government funding to the WHO has been terminated.

- U.S. personnel and contractors assigned to or embedded with the WHO have been recalled from the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland and WHO offices worldwide.

- Hundreds of U.S. engagements with WHO have been suspended or discontinued.

- The U.S. has ceased official participation in WHO-sponsored committees, leadership bodies, governance structures, and technical working groups.

Withdrawal from WHO has been a stated priority for the Trump Administration since 2020. During his first term, President Trump sought to withdraw the U.S. from WHO over its response to COVID-19.”

This clearly demonstrates that this action is entirely US-centric, which is both short-sighted and entirely consistent with Trump’s lack of understanding of how things work.

“Protecting Americans as We Enter a New Chapter

Following its withdrawal from the WHO, the U.S. remains the world's leading authority in public health. The U.S. will continue to ensure rapid detection and response to infectious disease outbreaks, strengthen global biosecurity coordination, and drive health innovation. Through targeted global cooperation, these efforts will protect Americans while delivering shared security and measurable benefits to U.S. allies.”

This one is mind-blowing. Somehow, by withdrawing from the key global organization dedicated to responding to infectious disease outbreaks and coordinating global cooperation, the US will improve the response and coordination? Utterly ridiculous, but saying that this will “protect Americans while delivering shared security and measurable benefits to U.S. allies,” fairly clearly illustrates both that the intent is entirely US-centric and that there is a near-total lack of understanding that the US benefits directly and enormously by contributing to global disease response.

“Accountability and Transparency

Withdrawing from WHO restores long-overdue accountability and transparency for U.S. taxpayers. Although the WHO is comprised of 194 member states, the U.S. has for decades carried a disproportionate share of the organization's financial burden.

In recent years, U.S. assessed contributions (mandatory dues) averaged approximately $111 million annually. In addition, the United States provided voluntary contributions averaging roughly $570 million per year—amounting to billions of dollars over time—often exceeding the combined. contributions of many other member states.

For decades, the United States has been the world's largest and most consequential contributor to global health, saving millions of lives, leading emergency responses to outbreaks and pandemics, and driving historic eradication efforts such as smallpox and polio. Following its withdrawal from the WHO, the United States will continue to lead global health efforts independently—engaging partners directly, deploying resources efficiently, and ensuring accountability to the American people outside of WHO structures.”

Most of this is correct, though spun to try and make it sound bad. The bit about ‘accountability and transparency’ is bullshit, but it’s true that the US invested heavily in the WHO. While definitely praise-worthy, the US could easily have afforded vastly more and benefited both themselves and the world. Out of a 2025 budget of $5.26 trillion, even assuming $1 billion per year, that would still be less than 0.02% of the federal budget – a drop in the bucket. Sounds like DOGE-style accounting...

The last bit is interesting, though. Bragging about eradication efforts for smallpox and polio, while pretending that withdrawing from the WHO is anything other than a major step backwards in global health.

And this is what they are saying in their own document.

So, not really worried about hantavirus, worried about Ebola mostly due to the fact that the US took actions which directly affected the initial response and the fact that they will likely botch the federal response if Ebola reaches the US.

My real worry is that the next pandemic – whatever it is, whenever it comes - will be utterly botched by the US, which means that the entire world will be affected. COVID-19 was bad, but it was only a warning of what could come next. I wish that botching the response was the worst that the Trump admin could do. If I wanted to make everything as bad as possible, I can’t think of anything worse than what the Trump admin has already done, and is continuing to do.

Cheers!