WHO announces end to hantavirus outbreak on MV Hondius cruise ship

The World Health Organization announced that the hantavirus outbreak aboard the Dutch‑flagged cruise liner MV Hondius is now over. The declaration came after the final person identified as exposed completed a quarantine period, tested negative and returned home. The outbreak had resulted in 12 confirmed cases, one probable case and three fatalities.

Health authorities traced more than 650 contacts across 33 countries and territories, monitoring them until the risk subsided. The ship, which departed Ushuaia, Argentina on 1 April, visited remote South Atlantic islands before arriving in Tenerife, Spain, where passengers were evacuated, and later docked in Rotterdam, the Netherlands for cleaning and disinfection.

The virus involved was the Andes strain of hantavirus, the only known hantavirus capable of human‑to‑human transmission. Investigations in Argentina have not identified any rodent carriers, leaving the source of the outbreak unclear. WHO will continue a coordinated study with 21 countries to develop diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines for hantaviruses and hopes the episode will spur progress on the Pandemic Agreement.