The World Health Organization (WHO) has assured the public that the hantavirus outbreak linked to the MV Hondius is not the start of another global pandemic.
Speaking during a press briefing on Thursday, WHO officials stressed that hantavirus spreads very differently from COVID-19 and currently presents a low global public health risk.
Maria Van Kerkhove said the situation should not be compared to the coronavirus outbreak.
“I want to be unequivocal here. This is not SARS-CoV-2. This is not the start of a Covid pandemic. This is an outbreak that we see on a ship,” she said.
Van Kerkhove explained that the Andes hantavirus spreads mainly through close and intimate contact, unlike airborne diseases such as COVID-19 or influenza.
“This is not Covid, this is not influenza, it spreads very, very differently,” she added.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus disclosed that eight cases have so far been identified, including three deaths.
According to him, five cases have been laboratory-confirmed, while three remain suspected.
Tedros said earlier outbreaks showed that human-to-human transmission of the Andes virus only happened after prolonged contact, which appears to be the case aboard the ship.
“Hantaviruses are a group of viruses carried by rodents that can cause severe disease in humans. People are usually infected through contact with infected rodents or their urine, droppings or saliva,” he explained.
He noted that the Andes virus, found in Latin America, is the only hantavirus strain known to allow limited transmission between humans.
“In previous outbreaks of Andes virus, transmission between people has been associated with close and prolonged contact, particularly among household members, intimate partners, and people providing medical care. That appears to be the case in the current situation,” Tedros said.
The WHO chief revealed that when the first patient developed symptoms on April 9, hantavirus was not initially suspected and no samples were collected.
He said the patient’s wife later left the ship when it docked at Saint Helena before dying in Johannesburg, where tests later confirmed hantavirus infection.
Tedros warned that more cases could still emerge because the disease has an incubation period of up to six weeks, although WHO continues to rate the wider public health risk as low.
He also disclosed that he contacted Pedro Sánchez on Monday to request that Spain accept the ship after the outbreak.
The vessel is currently heading to the Canary Islands, with passengers ordered to remain in their cabins while anyone showing symptoms has been instructed to isolate.
