How worried should we be about hantavirus?

Passengers from the cruise ship struck by a hantavirus outbreak are being evacuated and sent to their home countries to isolate and receive medical treatment if necessary.

Some other passengers from MV Hondius left on earlier flights or connections and their contacts are now being traced as a precaution.

Officials say the risk of the infection spreading to the general public remains low.

Crew and passengers now face having to self-isolate for more than a month to avoid any potential spread.

Three died either on board or after travelling on the ship, which set sail from Argentina a month ago. Four others were medically evacuated from the ship for treatment.

In an update on Thursday, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove from the World Health Organization (WHO) stressed it was not the start of a pandemic, saying: "This is not Covid, this is not influenza, it spreads very, very differently."

Unlike diseases such as measles, which are highly contagious and spread easily, the Andes strain of hantavirus behind the outbreak is not that infectious.

Human-to-human spread is possible but the risk of infections globally remains low, says WHO.

In its latest update, external, it says eight cases - six confirmed - have been identified in people who were on the ship.

It is still not clear how the outbreak started.

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Source: BBC News, 7 May 2026