WHO Declares End to Hantavirus Outbreak on Cruise Ship
Quick Look
- The WHO declared an end to the hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship after the last contact completed quarantine and tested negative.
- The outbreak resulted in 12 confirmed and 1 probable case, including three deaths.
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Why It Matters
The World Health Organization declared an end to a hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship. The outbreak led to a global health alert, with 12 confirmed and one probable case, including three deaths.
The World Health Organization on Thursday declared an end to the deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship which sparked international alarm, after the last person left quarantine.
There were 12 confirmed and one probable case stemming from the MV Hondius, including three deaths.
But while the outbreak is now over, for scientists and experts, the work is only in its early stages, as they try to learn lessons from the episode that triggered a global health alert.
“Today, the final contact of a person exposed to hantavirus on the cruise ship MV Hondius completed their quarantine period, tested negative and returned home,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference.
“No further cases have been reported since May 25. We are therefore very pleased to say that WHO considers the outbreak of hantavirus over.”
The Dutch-flagged ship set off on April 1 from Ushuaia, Argentina, taking in remote islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, including Tristan da Cunha, before heading north to Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands, where remaining passengers were evacuated.
Open Questions
- What are the lessons learned from this outbreak?
- How did the virus spread on the ship?
