Hantavirus outbreak under controlled observation

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• The WHO is currently reporting eleven cases of hantavirus in connection with the cruise ship "Hondius", including three deaths.
• According to the WHO, all known cases have been isolated and the risk of further transmission is currently considered low.
• However, experts do not rule out further cases in the coming weeks due to the long incubation period.

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According to the WHO, all suspected and confirmed cases of hantavirus have now been isolated and are under medical observation.

This has reduced the risk of further transmission to a minimum, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Madrid. According to the report, eleven cases have currently been recorded in connection with the cruise ship "Hondius". These include three deaths involving people who were infected at the very beginning. There is laboratory evidence for nine of the cases.

"All eleven cases occurred among passengers or crew members of the ship," the WHO chief continued. It is therefore possible that there was no spread beyond the ship - for example, when passengers disembarked and traveled home before it became clear that the virus was circulating on the ship.

However, due to the long period of up to six weeks from infection to the outbreak of the disease, experts do not rule out the possibility that the number of cases could rise somewhat further. The WHO recommends monitoring people from the ship until June 21, said Ghebreyesus. Around 150 people from 23 countries were on the "Hondius".

Virus probably came on board with a Dutchman

The WHO assumes that the chain of infection on the "Hondius" can be traced back to a Dutch couple who boarded the ship on April 1. The man - presumably the first person to be infected in the infection cluster - developed a fever, headache, abdominal pain and diarrhea on April 6 and died on April 11.

In the course of this illness, it is currently assumed that there was limited human-to-human transmission on the ship. As the symptoms are similar to those of various respiratory diseases, there was a delay in testing for the hantavirus. Only then were stricter isolation and monitoring measures put in place.

The WHO chief praised the evacuation of passengers and crew members of the "Hondius" led by Spain on the vacation island of Tenerife. The Spanish central government had shown exemplary solidarity. "The world needs the kind of kindness and compassion shown by the Spanish government. I believe the whole world should be proud of this response."

"Caring, cohesion and strength"

The captain of the "Hondius", Jan Dobrogowski, had previously thanked the crew and passengers for their "patience, discipline and kindness" in a video message. "These past weeks have been extremely exhausting," he said. The people had shown "care, solidarity and strength" under the most difficult circumstances.

The "Hondius" reached the port of Granadilla in the south of Tenerife on Sunday. Special flights were used to transport people from the ship to their homes under special safety precautions. The evacuation was completed on Monday evening. The ship then continued its journey towards the Netherlands with a remaining crew.

Outbreaks always subside quickly

There are numerous hantaviruses worldwide. The South American Andes virus was circulating on the ship. Like all hantaviruses, it is usually transmitted by rodents, for example via particles of faeces in swirling dust; occasionally, human-to-human transmission is also possible with this type if there is prolonged, close contact.

In recent decades, there have been a few recorded outbreaks in South America, all of which quickly subsided. In the current case, too, experts do not see any risk of the pathogen spreading on a large scale.