GENEVA, Switzerland – In an official briefing held Thursday, the World Health Organization (WHO) has updated the public on an emerging hantavirus outbreak linked to the Atlantic cruise vessel MV Hondius, confirming five positive cases of the disease, with three additional suspected infections still under investigation. Three deaths have already been connected to the incident, and global health officials have cautioned that further cases may emerge as the outbreak continues to unfold.
The Dutch-flagged exploration ship departed Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1 for a northbound Atlantic voyage that was scheduled to end in Cape Verde. After wrapping up its stop in Cape Verde, the vessel set a new course for Tenerife, Spain this Wednesday, carrying its remaining passengers and crew after multiple passengers disembarked earlier in the journey.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed to journalists in Geneva that the specific strain involved in the outbreak is the Andes hantavirus, a variant endemic to parts of South America. This particular strain is unique among hantaviruses because it is the only variant with confirmed evidence of person-to-person transmission. Most hantaviruses spread to humans exclusively from infected rodents, typically through contact with contaminated urine, fecal matter, or saliva.
“Andes virus has an incubation period that can extend up to six full weeks, which means we cannot rule out additional cases being detected in the coming weeks,” Tedros explained. He added that he has maintained consistent communication with the captain of the MV Hondius, who reported that passenger and crew morale has improved dramatically since the vessel resumed its journey. “I want to recognize the captain and the entire ship crew for their ongoing efforts to protect everyone on board,” he said.
Tedros confirmed that during a stop at the British overseas territory of Saint Helena between April 22 and 24, 30 passengers disembarked the vessel. The first recorded fatality from the outbreak, a Dutch national, died on April 11 before the stop. To date, 12 countries have been notified by WHO that their citizens were among those who left the ship at Saint Helena: the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United States.
In a promising update, global health leaders expressed cautious confidence that the outbreak can be contained. Abdi Rahman Mahamud, Director of WHO’s Emergency Alert and Response, stated that the outbreak will remain limited if appropriate public health protocols are implemented consistently across all affected countries and regions. To support ongoing testing efforts, Argentina is preparing to ship 2,500 diagnostic testing kits to laboratories across five countries that are handling contact tracing and case confirmation for the incident.