President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration is closely monitoring recent hantavirus cases but believes the situation is under control and distinct from the COVID-19 pandemic. Speaking to reporters at the White House before departing for a dinner at his golf course in Sterling, Virginia, he said officials are studying the virus carefully and described it as not easily transferable.
The World Health Organization has reported a cluster of hantavirus infections linked to the Dutch-flagged cruise ship Hondius, currently traveling from Cape Verde to Tenerife, Spain. To date, WHO has recorded eight cases associated with the event: five confirmed infections and three suspected, including three deaths. The agency says the overall public health risk remains low but warns more cases could appear given the virus incubation period of up to six weeks.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the United Kingdom alerted the agency after passengers aboard the vessel developed acute respiratory distress. Investigations indicate the first fatality began showing symptoms on April 6 and died five days later; a second death occurred on April 25, and a third on May 2. WHO noted that the first two victims had recently taken a bird-watching trip through Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay, regions where rodent hosts of the virus are known to live.
Hantaviruses are usually transmitted to humans through direct contact with infected rodents or their droppings. The strain implicated in this outbreak, the Andes strain, is unusual because it has demonstrated the ability to spread between people, primarily through close or prolonged contact among family members or healthcare workers.
In response to the cluster, Argentine authorities are tracing the travel itinerary of the affected passengers and distributing 2,500 diagnostic kits to laboratories in five countries. WHO has notified 12 nations whose citizens disembarked at Saint Helena, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Germany, and Singapore.
While the situation is being actively investigated and monitored, public health officials emphasize that the current risk to the wider population is low. Health agencies continue contact tracing, testing, and information sharing to limit further transmission and identify any additional cases.
