Hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship not start of pandemic, UN health agency says

An outbreak of hantavirus on board a cruise ship is not the start of a pandemic, the UN health agency has said.

Maria van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the World Health Organization (WHO), told a news briefing that it was not the same situation as six years ago with Covid-19, because hantavirus spreads through "close, intimate contact".

Health authorities are racing to trace dozens of people who have recently disembarked from the Dutch vessel MV Hondius.

On Thursday, the WHO said that overall, five of eight suspected cases of hantavirus had been confirmed. Three people have died, including a 69-year-old Dutch woman, who had the virus.

Her Dutch husband and a German woman also died, and their cases are being investigated.

Hantavirus typically spreads from rodents - but in the latest outbreak the transmission between people was documented for the first time, the WHO said.

The luxury cruise, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, began its journey on 1 April in Ushuaia, Argentina, and is expected to arrive in Spain's Canary Islands on 10 May.

About 150 passengers and crew from 28 countries are reported to have initially been aboard the vessel, but dozens disembarked on the island of St Helena on 24 April. How worried should we be about hantavirus?

At Thursday's news briefing, van Kerkhove said "this is not Covid, this is not influenza, it spreads very, very differently".

She said authorities had asked "everyone to wear a mask" on board the MV Hondius.

Those in contact with or caring for suspected cases, she added, should "wear a higher level of personal protective equipment".

At the same briefing, WHO Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus said his organisation "assesses the public health risk as low".

He said the first two people with the confirmed virus had "travelled through Argentina, Chile...

Poor lady. She took good care of Gene until she couldn’t.

She did indeed. The whole episode presented itself as a major medical mystery - both she and Gene (and the dog) were dead, described as partially mummified, and investigators first had to eliminate foul play and then carbon monoxide poisoning. Major TV networks set up cameras at the entrance to their gated subdivision - a well known movie star was dead and so was his wife, what happened??

Then it became known that he died five to six days after his wife, how could that be?? In the end, he died of heart disease complicated by severe Alzheimer's disease. He hadn't eaten in several days but had hydrated by drinking water. He may not have known that his wife had died, maybe he just wondered, at semi-coherent times, where she was?

She was found in her bathroom dead on the floor. There was an open bottle of Tylenol with scattered pills. A possible overdose but with what?? No opioids or other narcotic drugs were found. What happened?? She had come down with the flu and had gone to the CVS to pick up some medicine. The morning of her death she called her private physician and made an appointment for that afternoon. She never kept it.

So it was a medical mystery - she was healthy and active, no sign of foul play or drugs .... It took forensic testing to come up with the answer - hantavirus, specifically the Sin Nombre variant comment to the US southwest. And the dog?? It had just come back from the vet and was in a doggie crate. It died of starvation and dehydration.

A story so strange and unusual that it engaged the imagination of the public, a famous movie star and his wife both dead, why? How? To the credit of the NM Health Department, they have dealt with these type of deaths in the past 30 years. Another one is death by the plague. Both are caused by rodents, the latter those with fleas carrying plague bacteria. Both are dangerous but the plague, with antibiotics usually can be controlled in a patient. The hantavirus is much harder to treat and more likely to result in a fatality.

National Pravda Radio is trying HARD to sell it as the next ‘covid’ but they’re coming up against FACTS that are making their job difficult, LOL!

Is hantavirus the next COVID? Is the U.S. response on point? An outbreak update:

https://www.npr.org/2026/05/07/nx-s1-5814761/hantavirus-likely-not-the-next-covid

Also, it’s too far out from the midterms. *SMIRK*

One report was that there was a bird-watching tour and one of the locations was a garbage dump. Besides birds, what other animal is there? Rats! Just walking around there, especially if the day is dry and windy could cause dust containing the virus to become airborne and inhaled.

In the US that is the most common way to contact the disease - sweep or vacuum an area where mouse urine and droppings are present. Before doing that spray the area with a 10% bleach solution, and wear a N95 mask and gloves; Immediately discard or wash outerwear clothing.

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