Hantavirus outbreak: WHO warns of more cases, does not anticipate large epidemic

The World Health Organization on Thursday said that more cases of hantavirus infections could emerge after the disease killed three passengers of a cruise ship.

However, the global health authority said that it would be “a limited outbreak” if public health measures are implemented by countries.

The deaths on board the cruise ship MV Hondius in the Atlantic Ocean have sparked global health concerns.

What is hantavirus?

Hantavirus is a zoonotic disease, meaning it is communicable from animals to humans. It is carried by rodents that can cause a range of severe illnesses among humans, and possibly death. People usually get infected by Hantavirus through contact with infected rodents or their droppings or saliva.

There are no vaccines and no specific treatment that cures hantavirus diseases, according to the World Health Organization. But early supportive medical care, such as close clinical monitoring and management of respiratory, cardiac and kidney complications, can help improve the chances of survival, according to the global health body.

Prevention depends largely on reducing contact with infected persons and rodents. Andes hantavirus found in South America is a known virus for which limited human‑to‑human transmission among close contacts has been documented, according to the World Health Organization.

In humans, the symptoms usually begin between one week to eight weeks of exposure to the virus. The symptoms typically include fever, headache, muscle aches and gastrointestinal problems such as abdominal pain, nausea or vomiting.

No large epidemic anticipated, says WHO

Abdirahman Sheikh Mahamud, who heads the World Health Organization’s emergency alert and response operations, said that the organisation was focussing on “a cluster in a confined space with close contact”.

“We don’t anticipate a large epidemic with the experience our member states have and the actions they have taken,” The Guardian quoted him as saying. “We believe that this will not lead to a subsequent chain of transmission.”

Infections on board the cruise ship

A passenger is believed to have contracted the hantavirus before boarding the ship and infected others as it sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, AFP reported. A Dutch couple who had travelled around South America before boarding the ship in Argentina’s Ushuaia on April 1 were the first fatalities.

A German passenger died on May 2. Her body remains on the ship, AFP reported.

On Wednesday, three persons were evacuated from the ship when it anchored off Cape Verde. A fourth landed in Amsterdam on Thursday, AFP quoted the ship’s operator as saying.

The company said that no persons were showing symptoms of the infection on board. The ship is sailing towards Spain’s Canary Islands, where it is expected to reach on Sunday.

On April 24, the body of the Dutch citizen was taken off the cruise in Saint Helena, an island in the southern Atlantic Ocean. Twenty-nine passengers had disembarked there, AFP quoted the ship's operator as saying.

The operator said it was working to trace all passengers and crew who got on or off the ship since March 20.

The World Health Organization informed 12 countries that their citizens had disembarked from the ship at Saint Helena.

Five confirmed cases, more suspected

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters on Thursday that five confirmed and three suspected cases had been reported so far. This includes the three deaths.

“Given the incubation period of the Andes virus, which can be up to six weeks, it is possible that more cases may be reported,” he said.

Ghebreyesus was referring to the rare strain detected aboard the Hondius, which can be transmitted between humans.

Persons suspected to be or known to have contracted the hantavirus are being treated or isolated in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and South Africa.

Source unknown

On Thursday, the health authorities in Argentina said that they had not yet been able to determine where the outbreak began, AFP reported.

“With the information provided so far by the countries involved and participating national agencies, it is not possible to confirm the origin of the infection,” the country’s health ministry said. The statement followed a meeting with the authorities from all Argentine provinces.

Argentine officials have been quoted as saying that they plan to test rodents in the coastal city of Ushuaia, from where the cruise ship had set sail on April 1.

Spreads differently to coronavirus, influenza

World Health Organization expert Maria Van Kerkhove said that there were no further symptomatic cases on board of the cruise, “which is a good sign, but of course, there is a long incubation period of the Andes virus”.

The hantavirus spreads “very, very differently” to the novel SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, and influenza and requires a more prolonged contact, she added.

Written by: Nachiket Deuskar. Edited by: Tanya Shrivastava