The World Health Organization has said the recent hantavirus outbreak linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship is not the beginning of another global pandemic.
Speaking during a press briefing on Thursday, WHO officials explained that the virus spreads very differently from COVID-19 and currently poses a low public health risk.
Maria Van Kerkhove dismissed fears of a repeat of the coronavirus outbreak, stressing that hantavirus transmission is far more limited.
“This is not SARS-CoV-2. This is not the start of a COVID pandemic,” she said.
According to the WHO, the Andes hantavirus — the strain involved in the outbreak — spreads mainly through close and prolonged contact, unlike airborne viruses such as COVID-19 or influenza.
WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said eight cases have been identified so far, including three deaths. Five of the infections have been laboratory-confirmed, while three remain suspected cases.
Tedros explained that hantaviruses are usually carried by rodents, with humans becoming infected through exposure to rodent urine, saliva, or droppings. He noted that the Andes strain, commonly found in Latin America, is the only hantavirus known to allow limited human-to-human transmission.
The outbreak was traced to passengers aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship. WHO officials said the first infected passenger developed symptoms on April 9, but hantavirus was not initially suspected.
The patient’s wife later left the ship in St Helena before dying in Johannesburg, where tests confirmed the infection.
WHO added that more cases could still emerge because the virus has an incubation period of up to six weeks, but the overall global health risk remains low.
The ship is currently heading to the Canary Islands, with passengers instructed to remain isolated in their cabins if symptoms appear
