{"id":140222,"date":"2026-05-08T05:03:01","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T05:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/hantavirus-outbreak-on-cruise-ship-not-start-of-pandemic-un-health-agency-says\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T05:03:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T05:03:01","slug":"hantavirus-outbreak-on-cruise-ship-not-start-of-pandemic-un-health-agency-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/hantavirus-outbreak-on-cruise-ship-not-start-of-pandemic-un-health-agency-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship not start of pandemic, UN health agency says"},"content":{"rendered":"

LONDON, United Kingdom, May 8 \u2014 An outbreak of hantavirus on board a cruise ship is not the start of a pandemic, the UN health agency has said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maria van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the World Health Organization (WHO), told a news briefing that it was not the same situation as six years ago with Covid-19, because hantavirus spreads through \u201cclose, intimate contact\u201d.<\/p>\n

Health authorities are racing to trace dozens of people who have recently disembarked from the Dutch vessel MV Hondius.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, the WHO said that overall, five of eight suspected cases of hantavirus had been confirmed. Three people have died, including a 69-year-old Dutch woman, who had the virus.<\/p>\n

Her Dutch husband and a German woman also died, and their cases are being investigated.<\/p>\n

Hantavirus typically spreads from rodents \u2013 but in the latest outbreak the transmission between people was documented for the first time, the WHO said.<\/p>\n

The luxury cruise, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, began its journey on 1 April in Ushuaia, Argentina, and is expected to arrive in Spain\u2019s Canary Islands on 10 May.<\/p>\n

About 150 passengers and crew from 28 countries are reported to have initially been aboard the vessel, but dozens disembarked on the island of St Helena on 24 April.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

How worried should we be about hantavirus?<\/a><\/h2>\n

At Thursday\u2019s news briefing, van Kerkhove said \u201cthis is not Covid, this is not influenza, it spreads very, very differently\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said authorities had asked \u201ceveryone to wear a mask\u201d on board the MV Hondius.<\/p>\n

Those in contact with or caring for suspected cases, she added, should \u201cwear a higher level of personal protective equipment\u201d.<\/p>\n

At the same briefing, WHO Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus said his organisation \u201cassesses the public health risk as low\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said the first two people with the confirmed virus had \u201ctravelled through Argentina, Chile and Uruguay on a bird-watching trip which included visits to sites where the species of rat known to carry the virus was present\u201d.<\/p>\n

Dr Tedros said the WHO was aware of reports of other people with symptoms who may have had contact with passengers, adding that officials were in touch with the relevant authorities.<\/p>\n

Given the incubation period of this disease \u2013 which can be up to six weeks \u2013 it was possible more cases may be reported, he said.<\/p>\n

Also on Thursday, Oceanwide Expedition said 29 passengers, of at least 12 different nationalities, had left the MV Hondius in St Helena, the British Overseas Territory. It said that the body of one deceased person \u2013 who is now known to be a Dutch man \u2013 was also taken off the vessel.<\/p>\n

Seven of those who left the cruise liner were British nationals.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo of these individuals are now self-isolating in the UK while the others have not yet returned,\u201d an update from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said. Four remained in St Helena \u2013 and \u201ctracing efforts are ongoing for the seventh individual, who we know has not yet returned to the UK\u201d, the statement said.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Spain said discussions with the UK were \u201cvery advanced\u201d for London to send a repatriation flight for British nationals to Tenerife after the vessel\u2019s arrival to the Canary Islands.<\/p>\n

Virginia Barcones, head of Spain\u2019s civil protection and emergencies, said there were 19 British passengers and four crew members currently on board the ship.<\/p>\n

She said there were also four Americans on the MV Hondius, adding that \u201cthe United States has shown its willingness to send a plane that will collect its citizens directly\u201d.<\/p>\n

Oceanwide Expeditions said the first confirmed case of hantavirus was not reported until 4 May and thatall guests who disembarked the ship had been contacted.<\/p>\n

The operator said it remained in \u201cclose and continual discussion with relevant authorities regarding our exact point of arrival, quarantine and screening procedures for all guests\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Dutch government said the ship stopped in St Helena on its way to Cape Verde, an archipelago nation off the West African coast.<\/p>\n

It said the Dutch woman who left the cruise on 24 April travelled to South Africa, where she died two days later.<\/p>\n

Her husband died on board the ship on 11 April, but is not a confirmed case of hantavirus.<\/p>\n

The update said the woman had boarded a KLM flight heading from Johannesburg to the Netherlands, but became ill before its departure.<\/p>\n

Authorities in the Netherlands are sending letters to passengers who were on the flight, asking them to remain \u201cavailable for monitoring\u201d.<\/p>\n

The third fatality \u2013 a German woman \u2013 died on board the MV Hondius on 2 May, and is not a confirmed case either. Her body remains on the ship.<\/p>\n

Three other people \u2013 British, Dutch and German nationals \u2013 were evacuated from the vessel on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Singapore\u2019s Communicable Diseases Agency said it was isolating and testing two men \u2013 a 67-year-old Singaporean and a 65-year-old permanent resident \u2013 who disembarked the ship in St Helena.<\/p>\n

It added that they had taken the same flight from St Helena to Johannesburg in South Africa as the 69-year-old woman who died. Their hantavirus test results are still pending.<\/p>\n

Two US states \u2013 Georgia and Arizona \u2013 confirmed to the BBC that they were monitoring three passengers who returned to the US after disembarking. None were displaying symptoms. The US Department of State said it was in \u201cdirect contact\u201d with affected passengers.<\/p>\n

Argentina\u2019s health ministry has said officials will test rodents in Ushuaia.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LONDON, United Kingdom, May 8 \u2014 An outbreak of hantavirus on board a cruise ship is not the start of a pandemic, the UN health agency has said. Maria van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the World Health Organization (WHO), told a news briefing that it was not the same situation as six years […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-140222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140222\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}