WHO Estimates Hantavirus Outbreak Will Not Become a Pandemic Like Covid-19
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, NEW YORK – The World Health Organization (WHO) states that the hantavirus outbreak associated with a cruise ship is estimated not to develop into a major epidemic. WHO assesses the hantavirus outbreak as different from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This is a specific and limited environment where people interact in prolonged close contact,” said WHO Director of Alert and Emergency Health Operations Abdirahman Mahamud to journalists in Geneva on Thursday (7/5/2026).
WHO does not anticipate the outbreak developing into a major epidemic given the experience and measures already taken by member states.
“We believe this outbreak will not cause further chains of transmission,” Mahamud said.
WHO officials stated that so far five cases related to the Andes virus, a strain of hantavirus that in rare cases can transmit between humans through close and prolonged contact, have been confirmed.
The cases were detected on the MV Hondius cruise ship and diagnosed through testing in South Africa and Switzerland. Mahamud said infected patients must remain isolated, while exposed individuals need to undergo active monitoring for up to 42 days, although implementation may vary by country.
According to him, some countries may apply institutional quarantine, while others rely on daily health monitoring by health officials.
WHO Director for Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention Maria Van Kerkhove emphasised that the hantavirus outbreak is very different from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This is not SARS-CoV-2. This is not the start of the Covid pandemic,” she said.
“Its spread is not the same as the coronavirus.”
Most hantaviruses are transmitted through rodents, including via saliva, urine, or faeces, while human-to-human transmission is rare.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the UN body has informed 12 countries whose citizens were on the cruise ship and had previously disembarked in Saint Helena. Those 12 countries are Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Tedros said the first two confirmed cases had travelled through Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay before boarding the ship, including visiting a birdwatching site known to have mice carrying the Andes virus.
The ship is currently sailing towards the Canary Islands after receiving permission from Spain. WHO assesses the risk of hantavirus spread, including in the Canary Islands, as relatively low.