The World Health Organization (WHO) says the hantavirus outbreak linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship is not the beginning of another global pandemic.
Speaking during a press briefing on Thursday, Maria Van Kerkhove, a WHO infectious disease epidemiologist said the outbreak was not comparable to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I want to be unequivocal here. This is not SARS-CoV-2. This is not the start of a Covid pandemic. This is an outbreak that we see on a ship,” she said.
Van Kerkhove explained that the Andes hantavirus spreads mainly through close and prolonged contact, unlike COVID-19 and influenza, which spread more easily through the air.
“This is not Covid, this is not influenza, it spreads very, very differently,” she added.
WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, disclosed that eight cases linked to the outbreak had so far been identified, including three deaths.
According to him, five of the cases have been laboratory-confirmed, while three remain suspected.
Tedros explained that hantaviruses are typically carried by rodents and are transmitted to humans through contact with infected rodents, their urine, saliva or droppings.
He noted that the virus involved in the current outbreak is the Andes virus, found mainly in Latin America, and the only hantavirus strain known to allow limited human-to-human transmission.
“In previous outbreaks of Andes virus, transmission between people has been associated with close and prolonged contact, particularly among household members, intimate partners and healthcare providers,” he said.
Tedros revealed that the first patient developed symptoms on April 9, but hantavirus was not initially suspected and no samples were collected at the time.
He added that the patient’s wife later left the ship when it docked at Saint Helena before dying in Johannesburg, where tests confirmed hantavirus infection.
Although WHO warned that more cases could still emerge because the disease has an incubation period of up to six weeks, the organisation maintained that the overall global health risk remains low.
Tedros also disclosed that he personally contacted Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, requesting that Spain accept the cruise ship following the outbreak.
The vessel is currently heading to the Canary Islands, with passengers ordered to remain in their cabins while anyone showing symptoms has been directed to isolate immediately.
