An outbreak of hantavirus aboard a cruise ship has not signalled the beginning of a new pandemic, the United Nations health agency said on Thursday.
Speaking during a World Health Organization (WHO) news briefing, infectious disease epidemiologist Maria van Kerkhove stressed that the situation differed significantly from the early stages of Covid-19 six years ago, noting that hantavirus spreads through “close, intimate contact”.
Health officials are currently working to trace dozens of passengers who recently disembarked from the Dutch cruise vessel MV Hondius.
The WHO confirmed that five out of eight suspected hantavirus cases had tested positive for the virus. Three people have died, including a 69-year-old Dutch woman whose infection had been confirmed.
Her husband, also Dutch, and a German woman later died as well, although investigations into their cases remain ongoing.
Traditionally, hantavirus is transmitted through exposure to infected rodents. However, the WHO said the latest outbreak marked the first documented instance of human-to-human transmission.
Operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, the luxury vessel departed Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1 and is scheduled to reach Spain’s Canary Islands on May 10.
Around 150 passengers and crew members representing 28 nationalities were initially aboard the ship, though dozens disembarked at St Helena on April 24.
During Thursday’s briefing, van Kerkhove reiterated that “this is not Covid, this is not influenza, it spreads very, very differently”.
She said authorities had requested that “everyone wear a mask” while remaining on board the MV Hondius.
Those caring for or coming into close contact with suspected cases, she added, should “wear a higher level of personal protective equipment”.
At the same briefing, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the organisation currently “assesses the public health risk as low”.
According to Dr Tedros, the first two confirmed patients had “travelled 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”.
He added that the WHO was aware of reports involving other individuals showing symptoms after possible contact with passengers, and said officials were coordinating with relevant national authorities.
Dr Tedros noted that the disease’s incubation period can last up to six weeks, raising the possibility that additional infections could still emerge.
Oceanwide Expeditions separately confirmed on Thursday that 29 passengers from at least 12 different countries had disembarked in St Helena, a British Overseas Territory. The company also said the body of one deceased passenger, now identified as a Dutch man, had been removed from the vessel there.
Among those who left the ship were seven British nationals.
“Two of these individuals are now self-isolating in the UK while the others have not yet returned,” the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said in an update. Four people remained in St Helena, while officials continued efforts to locate the seventh traveller, who was confirmed not to have returned to Britain.
Spanish authorities meanwhile said discussions with the UK government were “very advanced” regarding a possible repatriation flight for British passengers once the vessel arrives in Tenerife.
Virginia Barcones, Spain’s head of civil protection and emergencies, said 19 British passengers and four British crew members remained on board the MV Hondius.
She added that four American passengers were also still aboard, noting that “the United States has shown its willingness to send a plane that will collect its citizens directly”.
Oceanwide Expeditions said the first confirmed hantavirus case was only identified on May 4, adding that all passengers who had already left the ship had since been contacted.
The cruise operator said it remained in “close and continual discussion with relevant authorities regarding our exact point of arrival, quarantine and screening procedures for all guests”.
The Dutch government said the ship stopped at St Helena while travelling towards Cape Verde, an island nation off the coast of West Africa.
Authorities also confirmed that the Dutch woman who disembarked on April 24 later travelled to South Africa, where she died two days afterwards.
Her husband had died aboard the vessel on April 11, although his case has not been confirmed as hantavirus-related.
Dutch officials said the woman had boarded a KLM flight from Johannesburg to the Netherlands, but became ill before departure.
Passengers who travelled on the same flight are now receiving letters from Dutch authorities requesting that they remain “available for monitoring”.
The third fatality, a German woman who died aboard the MV Hondius on May 2, has also not yet been confirmed as a hantavirus case. Her body remains on the vessel.
Three additional passengers — British, Dutch, and German nationals — were evacuated from the ship on Wednesday.
Singapore’s Communicable Diseases Agency said it was isolating and testing two men, a 67-year-old Singaporean and a 65-year-old permanent resident, who had disembarked in St Helena.
Authorities said both men had travelled on the same flight from St Helena to Johannesburg as the Dutch woman who later died. Their test results remain pending.
In the United States, officials in Georgia and Arizona confirmed they were monitoring three returning passengers who had disembarked from the cruise ship. None had shown symptoms, while the US State Department said it remained in “direct contact” with affected travellers.
Argentina’s health ministry also announced plans to begin testing rodents in Ushuaia as part of the ongoing investigation.
