An outbreak of hantavirus on a luxury cruise ship has resulted in three deaths and prompted the repatriation and isolation of passengers in the United Kingdom, the United States, and France. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that additional cases could emerge, while U.S. health officials said the situation is under control.
The ship, which was not named in reports, was linked to a type of hantavirus found in Argentina that can spread from person to person, according to the WHO, as reported by The Washington Post. The strain is known to cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a severe respiratory illness, and person-to-person transmission, though rare, has been documented with this specific strain.
In the United Kingdom, 22 passengers arrived on Sunday and began a 45-day isolation period, spending the first 72 hours at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside, Channel 4 News reported. The BBC said none of the British passengers had reported symptoms, but they would be monitored in hospital for 72 hours.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said 18 passengers were flown back to the United States and quarantined, The Straits Times reported. Ars Technica noted that three people were placed in biocontainment, and one U.S. passenger tested "mildly positive," though the WHO described the result as "inconclusive." Further testing was underway to confirm the result.
During a press conference in the Oval Office about mental health, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said, "We're not worried" about the hantavirus spreading, and that the U.S. has the virus "under control," according to The Hill.
However, the WHO chief said the U.S. decision not to quarantine passengers "may have risks," RT reported. It was not immediately clear whether the comment referred to an earlier policy or a specific aspect of the U.S. response.
France confirmed that a passenger flown back on Sunday tested positive for hantavirus, and several contact cases were being isolated, RFI reported.
The WHO warned that more hantavirus cases could emerge after the outbreak, but officials said the situation is likely to remain limited, RFI reported in a separate article. Experts quoted by RFI said the outbreak is not another Covid-19, citing the virus's lower transmissibility and the fact that it typically requires close contact with infected individuals or rodent excreta, and does not spread asymptomatically.
As of Monday, passengers in the UK, US, and France were under isolation or monitoring, with no new confirmed cases reported beyond the initial infections. The cruise ship outbreak remains under investigation by international health authorities.
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