WHO Confirms Eight Andes Hantavirus Cases in Cruise Ship Outbreak
The World Health Organization has confirmed eight laboratory-confirmed cases of Andes hantavirus among passengers aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship, which departed from Ushuaia, Argentina. Three passengers have died, with two confirmed infections and one probable case linked to the fatalities. The Andes virus is notable for being the only hantavirus strain capable of human-to-human transmission. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control stated there is no evidence the virus has mutated, noting that genetic sequences remain identical to known strains. The outbreak likely originated from a single animal-to-human transmission event before the voyage began. All passengers have been evacuated and placed under a 42-day quarantine due to the virus's long incubation period of up to six weeks. Health authorities maintain the global risk is low, but the risk for those on board is moderate. One inconclusive case involving an American passenger is undergoing further testing. Officials emphasize strict contact tracing and monitoring, as individuals may be contagious shortly before symptoms appear.
Editorial responsibility
- No named human review is recorded for this page.
- Reports are grouped by semantic similarity and deterministic rules. Language models may assist titles, summaries, translation and cross-source analysis; the page itself is projected from evidence records.
- Current automated evidence projection