The World Health Organization (WHO) says the public health risk from the hantavirus outbreak linked to the cruise ship MV Hondius remains very low despite several infections and deaths associated with the vessel.
Speaking at a press briefing in Geneva on Friday, May 8, WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier explained that the virus spreads only through extremely close contact.
“This is a dangerous virus, but only to the person who’s really infected, and the risk to the general population remains absolutely low,” Lindmeier said, noting that even some passengers who shared cabins aboard the ship did not contract the infection.
The WHO had earlier cautioned that more cases could still emerge because the Andes strain of hantavirus involved in the outbreak has an incubation period of up to six weeks and can spread through limited human-to-human transmission.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said five confirmed cases and three suspected infections had so far been identified, including three deaths.
“Given the incubation period of the Andes virus, which can be up to six weeks, it’s possible that more cases may be reported,” Tedros stated.
The outbreak sparked international concern after several passengers aboard the Hondius fell ill during a trans-Atlantic voyage. However, health officials stressed that the virus is far less contagious than COVID-19.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump said he had been briefed on the situation and expressed confidence that authorities were handling the outbreak effectively.
“It’s very much, we hope, under control,” Trump told reporters. “It was the ship — and I think we’re going to make a full report about it tomorrow. We have a lot of great people studying it… It should be fine, we hope.”
Authorities believe the outbreak may have originated before passengers boarded the ship in Ushuaia on April 1. Argentine officials said investigations remain ongoing and the exact source of the infection has not yet been confirmed.
A Dutch couple who travelled through South America before joining the cruise were identified as the first fatalities linked to the outbreak. The husband died aboard the ship on April 11, while his wife later died in Johannesburg after leaving the vessel with his body.
Health officials are now tracing passengers who travelled on a commercial flight from Saint Helena to Johannesburg while the woman was reportedly symptomatic. The flight carried 82 passengers and six crew members.
A third death involving a German passenger was reported on May 2, with reports indicating that her body remains aboard the ship.
WHO emergency alert and response director Abdi Rahman Mahamud said the outbreak was still expected to remain limited if countries continued implementing public health measures.
“It will be a limited outbreak if public health measures are implemented and solidarity shown across all countries,” he said.
Cases connected to the outbreak have reportedly been identified or monitored in Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and South Africa.
Hantavirus is a rare disease commonly spread through exposure to infected rodents and can lead to severe respiratory illness, haemorrhagic fever, and heart complications. There is currently no known cure or vaccine.
Oceanwide Expeditions, the Netherlands-based operator of the Hondius, said no symptomatic passengers currently remain aboard the vessel as it continues its journey toward the Spanish island of Tenerife.
A passenger on the ship, YouTuber Kasem Ibn Hattuta, said many travellers remained calm despite intense media coverage of the outbreak.
“Most people on board are reacting very calmly to the situation, unlike what is being reported in the media,” he said.
