The World Health Organization has declared the hantavirus outbreak over after the last identified contact of an exposed person linked to a cruise ship completed quarantine and tested negative for the virus.

Outbreak Statistics and Cruise Ship Details

The outbreak, which infected 13 people and killed three, involved the rare Andes hantavirus strain that typically circulates in Argentina and Chile — the cruise ship Hondius sailed from Argentina on April 1.

“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,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday. “No further cases have been reported since the 25th of May — Therefore, WHO considers the hantavirus outbreak over,” he added.

Travel Route and Quarantine Measures

On April. The Dutch-flagged cruise ship set off 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 flown home. The polar exploration ship finally docked in Rotterdam in the Netherlands on May 18.

After cleaning and disinfection. The ship was cleared to put to sea again on May 30; Tedros said more than 650 contacts were identified and followed up by health authorities in 33 countries and territories. He said the WHO would continue working to understand the outbreak and the virus itself.

Continued Research and Virus Background

“We are also coordinating a study involving 21 countries to understand how the disease develops, which will support the development of diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines for future outbreaks,” Tedros said. Hantavirus spreads primarily through rodents, infecting people through contact with rats, mice or their urine, droppings and saliva; the virus can become airborne during the cleaning of infested areas.

The Andes virus is the only known hantavirus that can spread through close, prolonged human-to-human contact, and Patients typically suffer fever, headache, muscle aches and gastrointestinal symptoms, such as nausea and abdominal pain between one and eight weeks after exposure.

In severe cases, the illness can rapidly progress to coughing, shortness of breath and fluid accumulation in the lungs — there are no approved vaccines or targeted antiviral treatments for the disease, with care remaining largely supportive.

The WHO previously said the first two cases had traveled through Argentina, Chile and Uruguay on a bird-watching trip which included visits to sites where the species of rat known to carry the virus was present. Health experts believe that in this case, it may have passed between humans who were in close contact.

On Thursday, the WHO said more than 650 contacts had been identified and followed up by authorities in 33 countries and territories. It said it would continue to work with governments and partners to advance its understanding of the outbreak and of hantavirus generally.

WHO medical officer Dr. Diana Rojas Alverez, speaking at a briefing, said: “Andes virus and other hantaviruses are still a public health risk for South America, and some other endemic areas… What we need to continue doing is to keep monitoring this virus, keep preparing for further spread.”

Hantavirus typically spreads from rodents, with people infected by breathing in air contaminated with virus particles from rodent urine, droppings or saliva. Symptoms can include fever, extreme fatigue, muscle aches, stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and shortness of breath. They usually appear between two to four weeks after being exposed to the virus, but can occur more than a month later, which is why the recommended isolation period for the passengers was so long. Passengers, who were not medically evacuated, disembarked in Tenerife, Spain, in May before they were flown home.