WHO Warns More Hantavirus Cases Likely After Deadly MV Hondius Outbreak
The World Health Organization has warned that additional hantavirus infections are likely following the deadly outbreak linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship.
WHO warns more hantavirus cases are expected after the deadly MV Hondius outbreak linked to Antarctica tourism. An Argentine landfill has been suggested as the source of the deadly hantavirus outbreak.
WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the timeline of exposure among passengers makes further cases highly probable, especially given the virus’s lengthy incubation period.
Shutterstock
He said: “We would expect more cases, because the first case was on April 6 and until the report was confirmed as infectious around April 24/25, there was a lot of interaction of the passengers.
“As you know, the incubation period is six to eight weeks. Because of the interaction, while they were still on the ship, even as they were taking some preventative measures… we would expect more cases.”
The warning comes as a French woman remains in critical condition after contracting the Andes variant of hantavirus aboard the MV Hondius. Spanish health minister Javier Padilla Bernaldez said doctors on the vessel initially believed her symptoms were linked to anxiety rather than infection.
He told the Guardian: “She explained to them that she had had a coughing fit a few days earlier, which had disappeared, and that what she was feeling at that moment was more like stress, anxiety or nervousness.
“So it was not considered a hantavirus infection.”
The outbreak has already claimed three lives after the cruise ship departed from Argentina on April 1 with around 150 passengers onboard.
Investigators previously suggested the outbreak may have started during a bird-watching excursion at a landfill site in Ushuaia, known as a gateway city to Antarctica. However, local officials in Argentina have strongly disputed those claims.
Juan Facundo Petrina, Tierra del Fuego’s Director General of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, told the BBC that the region has never recorded a hantavirus case.
He said: “In Tierra del Fuego we have no record of hantavirus cases in our history.
“And specifically, since 1996 – when the National Surveillance System included it among mandatory reporting diseases – we haven’t had a single case in Tierra del Fuego.”
Petrina argued that the endemic zone for the disease is nearly 1,000 miles north of the suspected source location.
He added: “To begin with, we do not have the subspecies of the long-tailed mouse [which transmits the disease], nor do we share the same climatic conditions as northern Patagonia.
“And if rodents were to start moving, since they don’t respect geographical boundaries, it’s important to remember that we are an island.
“They would face the limitation of crossing the Strait of Magellan in order to infect local species, so that is an additional difficulty, beyond the climate.”
Meanwhile, five French citizens were evacuated to Paris after survivors were removed from the ship in Tenerife in the Canary Islands. French health minister Stéphanie Rist confirmed the critically ill woman was isolated at Bichat–Claude Bernard Hospital and said “her condition unfortunately deteriorated overnight”.
Rist warned that a positive hantavirus reading could “lead to a life-threatening situation,” adding “this may be the case for this person.”
Authorities across Europe are now working to prevent further spread of the virus. According to the WHO, everyone who travelled on the MV Hondius is considered a “high-risk contact” and will be monitored for 42 days.
French officials also ordered passengers from two flights connected to infected travelers to immediately contact authorities and enter home quarantine pending risk assessments.
French government spokesman Maud Bregeon said officials were focused on “protect the French people,” while stressing they did “not want to create panic”.
The Andes strain detected aboard the MV Hondius is considered rare because it can spread from person to person. Specialists say the disease can trigger acute respiratory syndrome and may have a fatality rate exceeding 40 percent.
The U.S. Department of Health also confirmed that an American passenger tested positive for the virus.
Twenty British nationals removed from the vessel are being monitored at Arrowe Park Hospital. Officials said none are currently showing symptoms, though they are expected to remain in isolation for up to six weeks while medical assessments continue.
