The World Health Organization has warned that additional hantavirus cases may still surface following a deadly outbreak linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship, although health officials believe the spread can be contained if strict public health measures are followed.
The outbreak has already claimed the lives of three passengers and triggered international concern as health authorities across Europe and Africa continue tracing passengers and monitoring possible infections connected to the voyage.
According to the WHO, five confirmed cases and three suspected infections have so far been linked to the outbreak, including the three reported deaths.
Speaking to journalists in Geneva on Thursday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that more infections could still be detected because the virus has a long incubation period.
“Given the incubation period of the Andes virus, which can be up to six weeks, it’s possible that more cases may be reported,” Tedros said.
The strain discovered aboard the cruise ship is known as the Andes hantavirus, a rare form capable of spreading from person to person. Most hantavirus infections are usually transmitted through contact with infected rodents.
Shortly after the WHO briefing, health officials at the Leiden University Medical Centre in the Netherlands confirmed that another passenger had tested positive for the virus.
Despite growing concerns, WHO emergency response director Abdi Rahman Mahamud insisted the outbreak was expected to remain limited if countries cooperate and maintain preventive measures.
“We believe this will be a limited outbreak if the public health measures are implemented and solidarity shown across all countries,” Mahamud stated.
WHO officials also moved quickly to calm fears of another global health crisis similar to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is not the start of an epidemic. This is not the start of a pandemic. This is not Covid,” said WHO epidemic preparedness director Maria Van Kerkhove.
Health authorities said people believed to have contracted the virus are currently being treated or isolated in countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and South Africa.
Hantavirus is a rare but serious respiratory disease that can lead to breathing complications, cardiac distress, and hemorrhagic fever. There is currently no vaccine or specific cure for the illness, meaning treatment mainly focuses on managing symptoms.
Investigators believe one passenger may have contracted the virus before boarding the ship in Argentina and later spread it to others during the Atlantic voyage.
The Netherlands-based operator of the vessel, Oceanwide Expeditions, confirmed that three passengers were evacuated from the ship on Wednesday, while another sick passenger arrived in Amsterdam on Thursday.
“No symptomatic individuals are present on board” the ship currently, the company said while confirming the vessel was continuing its journey toward Tenerife in Spain.
Health agencies in the United Kingdom have also advised two returning passengers to self-isolate, although officials stressed that the overall public risk remains “very low.”
Meanwhile, authorities in Argentina announced plans to begin rodent testing in Ushuaia, the coastal city where the ship departed on April 1.
One of the victims, a Dutch passenger who boarded the ship alongside his wife, died aboard the vessel on April 11. His body was later removed from the ship in Saint Helena, where dozens of passengers also disembarked.
The situation became more alarming after the man’s wife reportedly developed symptoms and later died in South Africa on May 4 after hantavirus was confirmed as the cause.
Officials are now tracing passengers who may have had contact with her during a commercial flight from Saint Helena to Johannesburg. Airline officials said the aircraft carried 82 passengers and six crew members.
Another passenger from Germany also died on May 2, with reports indicating that her body remains aboard the ship.
As investigations continue, global health authorities say efforts are now focused on identifying possible contacts, containing further spread, and ensuring that the outbreak does not escalate beyond isolated cases.
