Geneva, May 8, 2026 — The World Health Organization (WHO) has assured the public that the hantavirus outbreak aboard the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius does not pose a pandemic-level threat, despite confirmed human-to-human transmission and multiple deaths linked to the virus.
Speaking at a WHO briefing on Thursday, infectious disease epidemiologist Maria van Kerkhove emphasized that hantavirus spreads very differently from Covid-19 and influenza.
“This is not Covid, this is not influenza,” she said, explaining that the virus spreads mainly through “close, intimate contact” rather than easy airborne transmission.
The outbreak has triggered an international public health response as authorities race to track passengers who recently disembarked from the vessel during its South Atlantic voyage.
According to the WHO, five of eight suspected cases have so far been confirmed as hantavirus infections. Three people have died, including a 69-year-old Dutch woman who tested positive for the virus. Her husband and a German woman also died, although officials are still investigating whether their deaths were directly linked to hantavirus.
The WHO said the outbreak involves the Andes strain of hantavirus, which is known to spread from rodents and, in rare cases, between humans. This marks one of the first documented instances of confirmed person-to-person transmission aboard a cruise ship.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the organization currently assesses the overall public health risk as “low.”
He noted that the first confirmed patients had traveled through Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay during a bird-watching tour that included areas inhabited by rodent species known to carry the virus.
The MV Hondius, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions�, departed from Ushuaia on April 1 and is expected to arrive in the Canary Islands on May 10.
The vessel initially carried around 150 passengers and crew members from 28 countries. At least 29 passengers disembarked on St Helena on April 24.
British, American, Dutch, German, and Singaporean health authorities are now monitoring passengers who left the ship. The UK Health Security Agency confirmed that two British nationals are currently self-isolating in the United Kingdom, while others remain overseas or are being traced.
Spanish officials said discussions with the United Kingdom are at an advanced stage regarding a repatriation flight for British citizens once the ship reaches Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
Oceanwide Expeditions stated that the first confirmed hantavirus case aboard the ship was not identified until May 4 and said all passengers who had already left the vessel had since been contacted.
Health authorities have advised passengers and crew to wear masks and use higher-level protective equipment when caring for suspected cases. WHO officials warned that additional cases could still emerge because the virus can incubate for up to six weeks.
Meanwhile, authorities in Argentina are planning to test local rodent populations in Ushuaia as part of the ongoing investigation into the origin of the outbreak.
