World Health Reassures: Low-Risk Hanta Virus Outbreak

The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed that the outbreak of the rare "hanta" virus is still at the "low risk" level globally, ruling out any indications that it is becoming a new pandemic.

This reassuring announcement comes in conjunction with the approach of an infected cruise ship belonging to the "Ocean Wide Expeditions" company, after a limited number of injuries and deaths were recorded among its passengers during its cruise, amid strict preventive health measures to disembark those on board.

The current epidemiological situation on board the MV Hondius

The World Health Organization (WHO) said in its statement, based on its latest data issued on May 12, that the total number of infections linked to this outbreak reached 11 cases, including 9 laboratory-confirmed infections, all of which were recorded exclusively among the ship's passengers and crew members.

The medical report noted that the virus has resulted in the deaths of three passengers so far, at a time when the disease is worrying that there is no licensed vaccine or specific treatment against it yet, forcing full reliance on symptom-supportive care.

Anticipation of the ship's arrival in Rotterdam and evacuation procedures

On the ground, the cruise ship MV Hondius is expected to dock in the Dutch port of Rotterdam on Monday , as medical authorities prepare to disembark 27 people still on board, including 25 crew members and two medical assistants.

The measure came after health authorities successfully evacuated more than 120 passengers and crew members upon the ship's arrival in the Canary Islands on May 10, where they were later transferred either to their countries of origin or to the Netherlands, as the ship was flying the Dutch flag.

Expect additional cases

For his part, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in remarks before the statement that the opportunity to record new infections among passengers still exists, especially among those who were exposed to the virus before strict quarantine measures were imposed inside the ship.

Ghebreyesus warned that the incubation period of the virus could extend for several weeks, which means that some of the passengers who have been in contact may develop symptoms in the next few days even though they have left the ship.

Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that symptoms of the Andean virus (the type classified within the hantavirus family responsible for this outbreak) usually appear between 4 and 42 days from the moment of infection.

Why doesn't Hanta call for a global emergency like Ebola?

The WHO's classification of the hantavirus outbreak as "low risk" is reminiscent of WHO's stringent measures in the face of deadlier pandemics. Unlike the current hantavirus, WHO recently  declared Ebola a public health emergency, particularly in Congo, that has raised international concern (PHEIC), the highest alert level WHO.

The key difference is that the Ebola virus has a tremendous ability to transmit rapidly and directly between humans through vital fluids, recording record mortality rates of more than 50 percent, threatening to collapse entire health systems in Africa and spread internationally beyond regional control.

In the case of the hanta virus on the Dutch ship, human-to-human transmission is very rare and environmentally restricted, as the animal (rodents) remains the primary vector, which explains the current WHO's reassurance and its sufficiency with normal quarantine procedures and its assurance that this outbreak does not pose a real risk that requires raising the state of maximum alert as happened with Ebola.

Transmission Routes and Chances of Control

Medical data confirm that hantavirus is transmitted primarily to humans through contact with or inhalation of urine droplets, feces, or saliva from infected rodents (e.g., mice and rats), and that an infected person is often infected during the onset of acute symptoms (e.g., high fever, muscle aches, shortness of breath).

The World Health Organization (WHO) predicted that the chances of transmission would be almost completely reduced once the disembarkation of passengers, the sanitization of the ship, and the implementation of strict preventive protocols in onshore quarantine facilities were completed.