Hantavirus outbreak will not cause a covid-style pandemic, says WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that the hantavirus outbreak aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius is unlikely to escalate into an epidemic.

During a press briefing, WHO experts aimed to calm global concerns about the outbreak, assuring the public that it won’t mirror the covid-19 pandemic. They emphasized the importance of not panicking over the cases detected on the ship and committed to addressing all questions from journalists.

“This is not covid; this is not influenza,” WHO expert Maria Van Kerkhove stated at the briefing. “This is not the start of an epidemic; this is not the start of a pandemic.”

To date, there have been five confirmed hantavirus cases and three suspected ones, with three fatalities among those infected.

The WHO reported that two patients hospitalized in the Netherlands and one in intensive care in South Africa are showing signs of recovery.

Hantaviruses are viruses carried by rodents, potentially causing severe illness in humans. Infection generally occurs through contact with infected rodents or their excretions.

Tests on two passengers from the ship in South Africa revealed the presence of the Andes virus, the sole hantavirus known to transmit between humans.

This virus can lead to hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome, a severe illness with a mortality rate reaching up to 50 percent.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted that the virus’s six-week incubation period means more cases could emerge in the coming weeks.

However, Ghebreyesus assured that public health risks remain low because the virus requires close contact for transmission. Effective contact tracing and international collaboration are expected to halt the virus’s spread.

All nations involved in managing the situation have fully cooperated, he added.

“There’s no need to panic the entire population,” emphasized WHO’s Abdirahman Mahamud.

Mahamud advised that only symptomatic individuals need isolation, while those exposed to the virus should undergo “active monitoring.”

Mahamud compared the current situation to an Andes virus outbreak in Argentina between November 2018 and February 2019, which affected 34 people and resulted in 11 fatalities. That outbreak began at a birthday party attended by about 100 guests. Although serious, the virus did not spread significantly within the community.

“The main concern is the possibility of limited person-to-person transmission,” remarked Luis Marcos from Stony Brook Medicine in New York. “However, such transmission appears to be inefficient and can typically be managed with standard isolation and quarantine precautions.”

“Overall, the risk of widespread transmission remains low, and the current level of concern may be greater than warranted,” he added.

Marcos anticipates that a maximum of 10 to 15 cruise passengers might be affected. He believes that quarantining those from the cruise will suffice, asserting that there is “no pandemic potential at all.”

Luis Escobar from Virginia Tech cautioned that hantaviruses pose a significant threat. “I believe hantavirus has pandemic risk, especially hantavirus causing respiratory syndromes,” he stated.

A study conducted by Escobar and his team in 2025 found more virus hosts than previously recognized. They tested over 14,000 blood samples from 49 species across 45 field sites, identifying 296 positive samples from 15 rodent species, including six new host species. The study highlighted Colorado, Virginia, and Texas as virus hotspots.

Nonetheless, Escobar is confident that the current public health strategies will mitigate the pandemic risk from this outbreak.