WHO Declares Cruise Ship Hantavirus Outbreak Over
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- WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the hantavirus outbreak over, confirming the final exposed contact completed quarantine, tested negative, and returned home.
- The outbreak infected 13 people and killed three, with no further cases reported since 25 May, according to the WHO.
- The MV Hondius departed Argentina on 1 April carrying passengers who later developed Andes virus, a rare hantavirus strain traced to a bird-watching trip through Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay.
- Health authorities identified and monitored more than 650 contacts across 33 countries and territories, believing the virus may have spread between humans in close contact in this case.
- WHO medical officer Dr. Diana Rojas Alvarez warned that Andes virus and other hantaviruses remain a public health risk in South America and other endemic areas, calling for continued monitoring.
- Passengers disembarked in Tenerife, Spain in May before being flown home, with an extended isolation period reflecting hantavirus's incubation window of up to more than a month.
Why it matters: With 13 infected, 3 dead, and a rare suspected human-to-human transmission chain spanning 33 countries, this outbreak tested global contact-tracing infrastructure for a pathogen that is not supposed to spread person-to-person — the WHO's continued surveillance push signals the Andes virus will remain on the radar for South American travel routes.
