The World Health Organization has sought to ease global concern over a hantavirus outbreak linked to the cruise ship MV Hondius, saying the risk to the wider public remains extremely low because the disease does not spread easily between people.
The outbreak aboard the vessel, currently travelling toward Tenerife in Spain, has resulted in three deaths, while health authorities have confirmed five infections and identified three additional suspected cases.
Addressing reporters in Geneva on Friday, WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier stressed that hantavirus is far less contagious than viruses such as Covid-19 or measles and typically requires very close personal contact for transmission.
According to the WHO, some people who shared cabins with infected passengers have not contracted the virus, reinforcing evidence that human-to-human transmission is limited. Lindmeier said infection is more likely through direct exposure to bodily fluids like saliva rather than casual proximity.
The MV Hondius departed from Ushuaia on April 1 and has been sailing across the Atlantic toward Cape Verde, making stops at remote islands during the journey.
Passengers believed to have been exposed are currently isolating or receiving medical treatment in multiple countries, including United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland and South Africa.
WHO officials pointed to recent developments that appear to support their assessment of low transmission risk. A Dutch flight attendant who reportedly interacted closely with an infected passenger later tested negative for the virus. The passenger, whose husband was the first fatality linked to the outbreak, had briefly boarded a KLM
flight from Johannesburg to the Netherlands before being removed ahead of take-off after falling ill. She later died in a Johannesburg hospital and tested positive for hantavirus.
Another case involved a Swiss man hospitalised in Zurich after contracting the virus, while his wife, who had travelled alongside him on the cruise, remained symptom-free and entered self-isolation.
The WHO also moved to reassure residents of islands visited by the cruise ship, including Saint Helena, where some passengers disembarked during the voyage. Officials maintained that the chances of community spread in those locations remain minimal.
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