GENEVA, Switzerland — The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday officially declared the deadly hantavirus outbreak linked to the cruise ship MV Hondius over, after the last person under quarantine tested negative and was cleared to return home.
The outbreak resulted in 12 confirmed cases and one probable infection, claiming three lives and prompting an international public health response spanning more than 30 countries.
“Today, the final contact of a person exposed to hantavirus on the cruise ship MV Hondius completed their quarantine period, tested negative and returned home,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a press briefing.
“No further cases have been reported since May 25. We are therefore very pleased to say that WHO considers the outbreak of hantavirus over.”
The Dutch-flagged expedition vessel departed Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1, visiting remote South Atlantic islands, including Tristan da Cunha, before sailing to Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands, where the remaining passengers were evacuated.
The ship later arrived in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on May 18 and resumed operations on May 30 after undergoing extensive cleaning and disinfection.
Despite declaring the outbreak over, WHO officials stressed that efforts to better understand the virus are just beginning.
Tedros said health authorities monitored more than 650 contacts across 33 countries and territories during the response.
“We are also coordinating a study involving 21 countries to understand how the disease develops, which will support the development of diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines for future outbreaks,” he said.
Hantavirus is a rare rodent-borne disease that currently has no approved vaccine or specific treatment. The Andes strain responsible for the Hondius outbreak is the only known hantavirus capable of spreading from person to person.
Initial investigations suggested a passenger contracted the virus while traveling in an endemic area of Argentina. However, Argentine health authorities later said a follow-up investigation in another province failed to detect infected rodents, leaving questions about the outbreak’s origin.
WHO high-impact epidemics chief Diana Rojas Alvarez said the outbreak no longer poses a public health risk but cautioned that hantaviruses remain a threat in parts of South America and other endemic regions.
“However, Andes virus and other hantaviruses are still a public health threat for South America and some other endemic areas,” she said.
She added that continued surveillance, preparedness efforts and community engagement will remain essential to preventing future outbreaks.
WHO also expressed hope that lessons from the Hondius outbreak would encourage member states to finalize the remaining provisions of the Pandemic Agreement later this month so it can become fully operational.