WHO Reports No Increase in Hantavirus Death Toll

(MENAFN) The number of hantavirus infections reported to the World Health Organization remains unchanged at 13 cases, while no additional fatalities have been recorded for more than a month, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Saturday.

“The number of cases reported to WHO remains 13, including three deaths,” Tedros wrote on the US social media platform X.

He noted that the UN health agency has not received reports of any new deaths during the past month and continues to maintain close communication with authorities in countries where infected individuals are undergoing treatment or where passengers and crew members remain under quarantine measures.

Hantaviruses are carried by rodents and can cause serious disease in humans. In most cases, individual hantavirus strains are linked to particular rodent hosts and are not known to spread from person to person.

The strain associated with the recent outbreak, however, is the Andes virus, which differs from most hantaviruses because it can be transmitted between humans through extended close contact, especially in confined settings.

Health authorities traced the outbreak to a cruise voyage after multiple infections were detected during the journey and in the period that followed. The cases prompted monitoring efforts and precautionary containment measures.

International concern grew after a 70-year-old passenger from the Netherlands developed symptoms on April 6 while traveling aboard the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius. The illness occurred five days after the ship had departed from Ushuaia in southern Argentina.

Tedros said WHO is continuing to closely follow developments and work with national authorities involved in managing the response to the outbreak.

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