The World Health Organization said Friday that the risk to the wider public from the deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius remains minimal, stressing that the virus spreads only through extremely close contact.
The outbreak on the vessel, currently en route to Tenerife, has raised international concern after three passengers died. The WHO confirmed Thursday that there are five confirmed cases and three suspected infections linked to the ship.
“This is a dangerous virus, but only to the person who’s really infected, and the risk to the general population remains absolutely low,” WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier told reporters in Geneva.
He emphasized that hantavirus transmission requires intense, direct exposure, unlike highly contagious diseases such as Covid-19 or measles. According to Lindmeier, simply being near an infected person is unlikely to cause transmission.
“You have to be basically face-to-face. Sharing saliva or direct exposure to bodily fluids would be the real concern,” he said.
The MV Hondius departed from Ushuaia on April 1 for a transatlantic voyage to Cape Verde, making stops at several remote islands.
Passengers feared or confirmed to have contracted the virus are currently isolating or receiving treatment in Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and South Africa.
Lindmeier also cited fresh evidence suggesting limited human-to-human spread. A Dutch flight attendant who had close contact with an infected passenger later confirmed to have died from hantavirus tested negative.
Dutch airline KLM said the passenger — the wife of the first victim in the outbreak — had briefly boarded a flight from Johannesburg to the Netherlands on April 25 before being removed prior to take-off. She died the following day in a Johannesburg hospital and later tested positive.
The WHO also referenced a Swiss patient hospitalized in Zurich whose wife traveled with him on the cruise but has shown no symptoms and remains in self-isolation.
The findings are also reassuring for communities on islands visited by the ship, including Saint Helena, where 30 passengers — including the body of the outbreak’s first victim — disembarked on April 24.
“For the general population on an island, the risk is absolutely minimal,” Lindmeier said.
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