Woman Recounts 2010 Hantavirus Infection and Recovery

Jennifer Benewiat was diagnosed with hantavirus in 2010. She was put on a ventilator after the diagnosis and her heart stopped three times during a ten-day period. Benewiat described her near-death experience and difficult recovery from hantavirus to CNN.

The video segment featuring Jennifer Benewiat was published on May 8, 2026, CNN reported. In the segment, Benewiat detailed the sudden onset of the rare rodent-borne illness that nearly claimed her life more than 15 years earlier. She recounted the sequence of events that led to intensive medical intervention as her condition deteriorated rapidly.

Medical staff placed her on a ventilator to support her failing lungs and circulation. During the ensuing ten days her heart stopped three times, requiring repeated resuscitation efforts that left her with a prolonged and arduous path back to health.

Benewiat's account forms part of a CNN package that also included reports on a recent hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship and comments from an Oregon doctor who treated patients during that incident.

The 2010 case she describes predates those events by more than a decade yet illustrates the severity of the disease.