WHO ends hantavirus outbreak tied to Hondius cruise ship
The agency said the last monitored contact tested negative after an outbreak that infected 13 people and killed three.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
2 min read
The World Health Organization has declared the cruise-linked hantavirus outbreak over after the last monitored contact finished quarantine and tested negative. The decision closes an international health investigation involving the MV Hondius, a Dutch-flagged polar exploration ship, after 13 infections and three deaths.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Thursday that no additional cases had been reported since May 25. He said the final contact connected to exposure on the vessel had completed quarantine, tested negative and gone home.
The outbreak involved the Andes strain of hantavirus, which Al Jazeera, AFP and Reuters reported is rare and is usually found in Argentina and Chile. The Hondius departed from Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1, according to the reports.
International contact tracing
Tedros said health authorities identified and monitored more than 650 contacts across 33 countries and territories. The ship’s route included remote South Atlantic islands, among them Tristan da Cunha, before it headed north to Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands, where the remaining passengers were flown home, Al Jazeera, AFP and Reuters reported.
The Hondius later arrived in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on May 18. After cleaning and disinfection, the vessel received clearance to sail again on May 30, according to the reports.
Tedros said the WHO would keep examining the outbreak and the virus. He said the agency is coordinating a study with 21 countries to better understand how the illness develops, with the aim of supporting work on diagnostics, treatments and vaccines for future outbreaks.
How hantavirus spreads
Hantavirus is mainly associated with rodents, according to the WHO information cited in the reports. People can become infected through exposure to rats, mice, or their urine, droppings and saliva, and the virus can become airborne when infested areas are cleaned.
The Andes virus is the only known hantavirus strain that can pass between people through close and prolonged contact, according to the reports. That feature helped drive the broad contact-tracing effort after infections were linked to the cruise ship.
Symptoms usually appear between one and eight weeks after exposure, the reports said. Patients can develop fever, headache, muscle pain and gastrointestinal problems, including nausea and abdominal pain.
In severe cases, the disease can worsen quickly, with coughing, breathing difficulty and fluid building up in the lungs. The reports said there are no approved vaccines or targeted antiviral medicines for the disease, leaving treatment largely focused on supportive care.
The WHO’s declaration means the agency no longer considers the event an active outbreak. Tedros tied that conclusion to the absence of new cases since late May and the negative test result for the last person under monitoring.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.