{"id":22556,"date":"2026-05-08T16:38:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T16:38:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/08\/heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-cruise-ship-hantavirus-outbreak\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T16:38:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T16:38:46","slug":"heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-cruise-ship-hantavirus-outbreak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/08\/heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-cruise-ship-hantavirus-outbreak\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s what you need to know about the cruise ship hantavirus outbreak"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Eight passengers aboard a Dutch-flagged cruise ship have contracted a type of hantavirus, a rare virus transmitted by rats. Three of them have died. As the ship prepares to dock in the Canary Islands, plans are being finalized to let the remaining passengers and crew disembark safely.<\/p>\n

The virus in question appears to have a high fatality rate. Read on for answers to the big questions surrounding the outbreak\u2014and to hear why health experts don\u2019t expect a rerun of the covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

What is hantavirus?<\/h3>\n

Hantaviruses are a group of viruses that typically infect rodents but can be transmitted to humans through exposure to the animals or their droppings, urine, or saliva. The viruses don\u2019t seem to cause illness in rodents, but they can make people very unwell. The symptoms can depend on the type of hantavirus a person has been exposed to. Varieties found in the Americas can cause hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome, which affects the lungs and heart and has a fatality rate of up to 50%.<\/p>\n

That condition made headlines last year when it caused the death of pianist Betsy Arakawa<\/a>, the wife of actor Gene Hackman<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

How many cases have there been so far?<\/h3>\n

On April 6, a man aboard the MV Hondius<\/em> developed respiratory symptoms. He became very unwell and died just five days later. His wife, who left the ship at the island of Saint Helena, also developed symptoms. Her health deteriorated during a flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, and she died the following day, on April 26. South Africa\u2019s National Institute of Communicable Diseases tested samples taken from the woman and confirmed that she had hantavirus.<\/p>\n

A third person aboard the ship, who developed symptoms on April 28, died on May 2. Four other passengers who became ill were evacuated\u2014one to South Africa and three to the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

An eighth person had disembarked in Saint Helena and reported similar symptoms once he was in Zurich, Switzerland. A team at Geneva University Hospitals confirmed that he had become ill from the Andes virus\u2014a form of hantavirus that can be spread between people.<\/p>\n

Could this be the start of the next pandemic?<\/h3>\n

Health experts don\u2019t believe so. They stress that the situation is nothing like the one the coronavirus that causes covid-19 presented in 2020. For a start, the Andes virus is not a mysterious new virus\u2014scientists already have an understanding of it, and Argentina is sharing diagnostic kits it has already developed.<\/p>\n

The virus also doesn\u2019t spread in the same way. Officials at the World Health Organization emphasized that the spread of hantavirus requires close contact\u2014the kind a person might have with a partner, household member, or medical caregiver.<\/p>\n

The cruise ship outbreak represents \u201ca specific confined setting where people are interacting in a prolonged close contact,\u201d Abdirahman Mahamud, the alert and response director for the WHO\u2019s health emergency program, said at a press event on Thursday. \u201cWith the experience our member states have, and the actions they have taken, we believe that this will not lead to a subsequent chain of transmission.\u201d<\/p>\n

What about the rest of the people onboard the ship?<\/h3>\n

All the remaining passengers have been asked to stay in their cabins, which the WHO says are being disinfected. Doctors and health professionals from the WHO and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control have boarded the ship and are assessing everyone on board.<\/p>\n

So far, no one else on board has developed symptoms, Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO acting director for epidemic and pandemic management, said at the press event. That\u2019s \u201ca good sign,\u201d she said, but she added that the Andes virus has a long incubation period (around six weeks). Passengers are being advised to wear a medical mask when they leave their rooms.<\/p>\n

At the same event, WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was in regular contact with the ship\u2019s captain, who was reporting that \u201cmorale had increased significantly\u201d since the ship started its journey to the Canary Islands.<\/p>\n

What do we know about the Andes virus?<\/h3>\n

The Andes virus is the only hantavirus that is known to be transmitted between people. That transmission seems to rely on prolonged, intimate contact.<\/p>\n

There was an Andes virus outbreak in Argentina<\/a> around eight years ago. Between November 2018 and February 2019, there were 34 confirmed cases of infection, and 11 deaths. That outbreak was triggered when a person with symptoms attended a social gathering, said Tedros. \u201cWe are in a similar situation right now,\u201d he said. \u201cA cluster in a confined space with close contact.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fact that the 2018 outbreak was limited to 34 cases should be somewhat reassuring, he implied. \u201cWe believe this will be a limited outbreak if the public health measures are implemented and solidarity is shown across all countries,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

How is hantavirus treated?<\/h3>\n

Unfortunately, we don\u2019t have any specific antiviral treatments or vaccines for hantavirus. The WHO recommends early intensive care for people who develop symptoms. \u201cThis can save lives,\u201d Ana\u00efs Legand, WHO technical lead on viral hemorrhagic fevers, said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

How did people get infected in the first place?<\/h3>\n

We don\u2019t yet have an answer to that. But we do know that the couple who died had traveled through Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay on a birdwatching trip before they boarded the ship. That trip included visits to areas where species of rats that carry the Andes virus are known to live. The WHO is working with authorities in Argentina to try to retrace the couple\u2019s movements on that trip.<\/p>\n

Has the virus spread beyond the ship?<\/h3>\n

We don\u2019t yet know for sure. The WHO is receiving reports of \u201cpotential suspect cases,\u201d Van Kerkhove said at the Thursday briefing. Some of them have links to the ship or its passengers. Each \u201calert\u201d will be followed up by health authorities in the relevant country, she said.<\/p>\n

Has the US withdrawal from WHO affected anything?<\/h3>\n

Five US states have said they are monitoring US nationals who have disembarked from the ship<\/a>. WHO officials are stressing that they are still sharing technical information with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. \u201cThings are \u2026 as they used to be,\u201d Tedros said. \u201cWHO\u2019s mission is to help the world to be safe \u2026 and we want the American people to be safe as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s worth noting that cuts made by the Trump administration aren\u2019t exactly putting the US in a good position for events like these. Last year, all full-time employees in the CDC\u2019s Vessel Sanitation Program\u2014which helps prevent and control illness outbreaks on cruise ships\u2014were laid off<\/a>. Further cuts to the CDC have left public health experts worried about how ill prepared the US is to deal with future disease outbreaks.<\/p>\n

What will happen next?<\/h3>\n

Any suspected cases will be monitored by health authorities. Passengers are due to disembark in Tenerife in the Canary Islands on Sunday, May 10, and the WHO has said it will work with the Spanish government to ensure that the risk to residents remains low and that the passengers are treated with dignity and respect.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, scientists are working to fully sequence the genome of the virus from patient samples. They want to find out if it is different from the viruses involved in the previous cases. \u201cSo far, we haven\u2019t seen anything unusual,\u201d said Van Kerkhove.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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