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World Health Organization Declares MV Hondius Hantavirus Outbreak Over
The World Health Organization declared the hantavirus outbreak linked to the cruise ship MV Hondius over on Thursday. The final exposed contact completed quarantine and tested negative with no new cases reported since 25 May.
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The World Health Organization declared the hantavirus outbreak linked to the cruise ship MV Hondius over on Thursday. Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the final contact of a person exposed to the virus completed the quarantine period, tested negative and returned home. No further cases have been reported since 25 May.
The outbreak involved the Andes virus and killed three people, according to reporting by the BBC. The ship departed from Argentina on 1 April. The first two cases had travelled through Argentina, Chile and Uruguay on a bird-watching trip that included visits to sites where the rodent species known to carry the virus was present.
Health experts believe the virus may have passed between humans in close contact, the BBC reported. Authorities in 33 countries and territories identified and followed up more than 650 contacts. Passengers who were not medically evacuated disembarked in Tenerife, Spain, in May and were flown home.
WHO medical officer Dr Diana Rojas Alvarez said Andes virus and other hantaviruses remain a public health risk for South America and some other endemic areas.
