Mirian Gom 
ABUJA, Nigeria – The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially declared the MV Hondius hantavirus outbreak over after the final identified contact completed quarantine and tested negative, ending a months-long international public health response that claimed three lives.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the development on Thursday, saying no additional infections have been reported since 25 May.
“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.
“No further cases have been reported since May 25.
“We are therefore very pleased to say that WHO considers the outbreak of hantavirus over,” Tedros said.
The outbreak involved 12 confirmed cases and one probable infection, resulting in three deaths.
The Dutch-flagged expedition vessel departed Ushuaia, Argentina, on 1 April, visiting remote islands in the South Atlantic, including Tristan da Cunha, before passengers were evacuated in Tenerife, Spain. The ship later docked in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on 18 May and resumed operations after extensive cleaning and disinfection.
Tedros revealed that health authorities traced and monitored more than 650 contacts across 33 countries and territories, describing the multinational response as critical to containing the outbreak.
“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,” he said.
WHO’s Head of High Impact Epidemics, Diana Rojas Alvarez, cautioned that while the cruise ship outbreak has ended, the virus remains a significant public health threat in parts of South America.
“However, Andes virus and other hantaviruses are still a public health threat for South America and some other endemic areas.”
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Korede Abdullah 
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