World Health Organization epidemiologist addresses concerns hantavirus is 'the next Covid'
The World Health Organization (WHO) has addressed people's concerns about a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship possibly sparking another global pandemic.
If you cast your mind back to 2019, you might remember hearing mutterings about something called coronavirus in China.
By March 2020, the WHO declared the virus outbreak as a global pandemic and the world went into lockdown.
From then until now, more than 7,000,000 have died from coronavirus, per WHO data. With this harrowing figure in mind and the huge impact the virus had on the world, it's understandable that people are somewhat nervous about a hantavirus outbreak that's taken place on a cruise ship.
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On April 1, the MV Hondius set sail from Argentina with around 150 passengers on board. Three of these passengers have since died from hantavirus and several others, including the ship's doctor, have fallen unwell.
Hantavirus, which was the cause of Betsy Arakawa's death in February 2025, is typically spread through rodents like mice and rats, but this particular strain that's broken out on the MV Hondius – called Andes virus – can also spread from person-to-person contact.
Reportedly this strain of the virus has an alarming 40 percent mortality rate.
The Argentine government reportedly believes a birdwatching trip in Ushuaia that two of the passengers joined before boarding the cruise ship may have been the initial source of infection.
There are now reports of people self-isolating with hantavirus. According to the BBC, two Brits are self-isolating after having been on the MV Hondius and possibly being exposed to hantavirus.
While all this information is undeniably concerning and may remind people of the beginning of the Covid pandemic, a WHO official has assured people that they do not believe that hantavirus is will be the next coronavirus.
WHO epidemic expert Maria Van Kerkhove said, per Sky News: "This is not the next Covid, but it is a serious infectious disease. Most people will never be exposed to this."
Meanwhile, Jay Bhattacharya from the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) has reassured Americans that the risk to the public is 'very low'.
He explained: "We understand that people are concerned and looking for information.
"Hantavirus is not spread by people without symptoms, transmission requires close contact, and the risk to the American public is very low."
He added the CDC 'has the world’s leading experts on hantavirus' and was coordinating with international partners and 'monitoring the health status and preparing medical support for all of the American passengers on the cruise'.
Dr Meera Chand, Deputy Director for Epidemic and Emerging Infections at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), has echoed similar sentiments.
"Our thoughts are with all those affected by the hantavirus outbreak onboard the MV Hondius," she said. "It’s important to reassure people that the risk to the general public remains very low."
Dr Chand went on to say of the British nationals who are self-isolating: "We are standing up arrangements to support, isolate and monitor British nationals from the ship on their return to the UK and we are contact tracing anyone who may have been in contact with the ship or the hantavirus cases to limit the risk of onward transmission."
The symptoms of the Andes strain of hantavirus and how it spreads
The Andes strain of hantavirus is very rare. Microbiologist Dr Gustavo Palacios told CNN there have only ever been 3,000 known cases.
It is the only documented form of hantavirus with human-to-human transmission. One study showed that window for patients to be infectious was about a day, when they develop a fever. But they also found it was transmissible through only brief proximity to an infected person.
Andes virus (ANDV) is primarily found in South America and has a high fatality rate, between 20 and 40 percent. It can cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), which attacks the lungs. Symptoms start one to eight weeks after infection and the first signs can include:
- Fatigue
- Fever
- Muscles aches
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Chills
- Nausea and vomiting
- Diarrhoea
Later symptoms include:
- Coughing
- Shortness of breath
Topics: Cruise ship, Health, World News, Coronavirus
Niamh Shackleton