EuroWire, GENEVA: The World Health Organization said the hantavirus cluster linked to the expedition cruise ship MV Hondius remains a serious incident but has not altered its assessment that the overall public health risk is low, as health authorities in several countries continue tracing passengers and crew. WHO said eight cases have been reported, including three deaths, and that five of the eight were confirmed as hantavirus. The outbreak has triggered a cross border health response after illnesses were identified during and after the vessel’s South Atlantic voyage.
WHO said the virus tied to the cluster is Andes virus, the only hantavirus known to allow limited person to person transmission after close and prolonged contact. The agency said the event remains a defined cluster linked to identified travelers and their contacts rather than evidence of broader spread. Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, Director of Epidemic and Pandemic Management at WHO, said the situation was not the start of a COVID style pandemic, underscoring the agency’s view that the wider threat remains contained.
WHO said the Dutch flagged vessel was carrying 147 people, including 88 passengers and 59 crew, when the cluster was reported on May 2. The agency has sent expert support, arranged for 2,500 diagnostic kits from Argentina to laboratories in five countries and prepared guidance for disembarkation and onward travel. Van Kerkhove also said the incident was a reminder of the importance of sustained investment in pathogen research and in the treatments, vaccines and diagnostic tools that can save lives during outbreaks.
Tracing efforts widen across borders
Oceanwide Expeditions, the vessel’s operator, said 114 guests boarded MV Hondius in Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1 and that 30 guests disembarked at Saint Helena on April 24. The company said the first confirmed hantavirus case was not reported until May 4 and that all guests who left the ship at Saint Helena had been contacted. Oceanwide Expeditions also said no symptomatic individuals were on board when the ship departed Cape Verde on May 6 and continued toward the Canary Islands under operational health measures.
National health agencies have widened monitoring as former passengers return home and close contacts are identified. In Britain, the UK Health Security Agency said returning British passengers and crew would be asked to isolate for 45 days and monitored with testing where needed, while maintaining that the risk to the wider public remains very low. In Singapore, the Communicable Diseases Agency said two residents who had been aboard the ship were isolated for testing, with one reporting mild symptoms and the other remaining asymptomatic at the time of the update.
WHO keeps risk assessment unchanged
European public health authorities said the outbreak requires close monitoring but does not indicate a broader community threat. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said Andes virus has only been documented to spread between people after close and prolonged contact and assessed the risk to the general population in the EU and EEA as very low. The agency said all those on board should be treated as close contacts at this stage because of the enclosed setting, shared spaces and the limited information available early in the investigation.
WHO said it is coordinating with affected countries under the International Health Regulations as testing, isolation and contact tracing continue. The agency has not changed its assessment that the event is confined to a defined cluster rather than a wider public health emergency, even as additional cases may still be identified during the incubation period. With laboratory work under way in multiple jurisdictions and travel histories still being reviewed, the immediate focus remains patient care, safe passenger handling and limiting further spread.