The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the hantavirus outbreak linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship over after the final person under quarantine tested negative for the virus.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the development on Thursday, July 2, saying no new infections had been recorded since May 25.
“Today, the final contact of a person exposed to hantavirus on the cruise ship MV Hondius completed their quarantine period, tested negative and returned home,” Tedros said during a press briefing. “No further cases have been reported since May 25. We are therefore very pleased to say that WHO considers the outbreak of hantavirus over.” The outbreak involved 12 confirmed cases and one probable case, resulting in three deaths and prompting an international public health response.
The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius departed Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1 for a polar expedition that included stops at remote South Atlantic islands such as Tristan da Cunha before sailing to Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands, where the remaining passengers were evacuated.
The vessel later docked in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on May 18 and was cleared to resume operations on May 30 following extensive cleaning and disinfection. Tedros said health authorities traced and monitored more than 650 contacts across 33 countries and territories during the outbreak.
He added that WHO would continue studying the virus to improve preparedness for future outbreaks. “We are also coordinating a study involving 21 countries to understand how the disease develops, which will support the development of diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines for future outbreaks,” he said.
Hantavirus is a rare rodent-borne disease for which there are currently no approved vaccines or specific treatments. The Andes strain responsible for the MV Hondius outbreak is the only known hantavirus capable of human-to-human transmission.
Investigators initially believed a passenger contracted the virus while travelling in an endemic area of Argentina. However, Argentina’s health ministry later announced that investigations in a second province failed to identify virus-carrying rodents.
WHO’s head of High Impact Epidemics, Diana Rojas Alvarez, said the outbreak could now be considered over because it no longer posed a public health risk. She cautioned, however, that the Andes virus and other hantaviruses remain a threat in South America and other endemic regions.
Rojas Alvarez said continued surveillance, preparedness efforts and community engagement would be essential to reducing the risk of future outbreaks. She added that WHO hopes the outbreak will encourage member states to complete negotiations on the remaining elements of the Pandemic Agreement later this month so it can become fully operational.