{"id":333982,"date":"2026-05-13T14:37:58","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T09:07:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=333982"},"modified":"2026-05-13T14:37:58","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T09:07:58","slug":"who-chief-warns-there-might-be-more-hantavirus-cases-news-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/05\/13\/who-chief-warns-there-might-be-more-hantavirus-cases-news-world\/","title":{"rendered":"WHO chief warns there ‘might be more hantavirus cases’ | News World"},"content":{"rendered":"

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One in every of the world\u2019s leading health experts has warned that we are able to expect more hantavirus cases within the near future.<\/p>\n

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organisation, maintains there are \u2018no signs\u2019 a pandemic is on the cards after cases of the rodent-borne disease were identified on the MV Hondius cruise ship last month.<\/p>\n

But he told a press conference in Madrid: \u2018In fact, the situation could change.<\/p>\n

\u2018And given the long incubation period of the virus, it\u2019s possible we’d see more cases in the approaching weeks.\u2019<\/p>\n

Three individuals who were aboard the cruise ship sailing the Atlantic Ocean have died of the rare but fatal disease.<\/p>\n

A minimum of 85 guests and 35 crew members have been evacuated from the vessel, tour operator Oceania Expeditions said <\/a>on Monday. <\/p>\n

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The MV Hondius has only just a few crew and medical employees onboard now (Picture: ANP\/Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A minimum of eight other individuals who were on the ship have fallen in poor health or tested positive. Amongst them are a US citizen and a French woman, 65, each of whom tested positive after being evacuated.<\/p>\n

Ghebreyesus said the 150 people aboard the ship\u00a0have faced \u2018a really frightening situation\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018Among the passengers were facing mental breakdown,\u2019 he added. \u2018They’ve the suitable to be treated with dignity and compassion.<\/p>\n

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\u2018There have been some people around the globe calling for the passengers to be contained on the ship for the total quarantine period. <\/p>\n

\u2018Our view was that might have been inhumane and unnecessary.\u2019<\/p>\n

Passengers were flown back from Tenerife, within the Spanish Canary Islands, to their home countries on Sunday and Monday. <\/p>\n

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Members of the UK Armed Forces drop a medical kit on the Atlantic Island of Tristan Da Cunha, where a British cruise passenger is isolating
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Ghebreyesus acknowledged that those living in Tenerife\u00a0were \u2018concerned\u2019 concerning the passengers and cruise disembarking on the island. \u00a0<\/p>\n

He added: \u2018We said the chance was low, each to the people of Tenerife and globally, and all our efforts over the past week have been aimed toward keeping it low.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018This can be a serious situation, which we’ve taken \u2013 and proceed to take \u2013 very seriously.\u2019<\/p>\n

Ghebreyesus praised Spain for the \u2018compassion and solidarity\u2019 it has shown the holidaymakers.<\/p>\n

He urged governments to do the identical with the passengers and ensure they quarantine for at the very least 42 days.<\/p>\n

The MV Hondius is anticipated to anchor at Rotterdam within the Netherlands either on Sunday or Monday, where it would be disinfected, Oceanwide Expeditions said yesterday.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tWhat’s hantavirus?\t\t\t<\/h2>\n
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A cabin contained in the MV Hondius, throughout the voyage to Spain\u2019s port of Tenerife (Picture: AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Hantavirus, sometimes called the \u2018rat virus\u2019, is a rare family of pathogens carried by rodents \u2013 there isn’t a vaccine or cure.<\/p>\n

The virus\u00a0spreads through contact with the faeces, urine and saliva of infected rodents.<\/p>\n

Early symptoms may be easily mistaken for the flu, equivalent to fever, chills or body aches, but can escalate to heart or lung failure.<\/p>\n

On the centre of the cruise outbreak is the Andes strain, which is endemic to South America, including Argentina, where the ship departed on April 1.<\/p>\n

Dr Stathis Giotis, a lecturer in life sciences on the University of Essex,\u00a0told Metro<\/strong> that the Andes hantavirus is the one known strain that may be spread from human to human, though cases of this are few and much between.<\/p>\n

\u2018It’s clearly a serious situation for those directly affected and it deserves careful public health follow-up, but there isn’t a evidence at present that this represents a broader epidemic threat,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

Individuals who may get in touch with rat droppings, like agricultural employees or people simply cleansing their sheds, are at high risk. <\/p>\n

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Rat droppings appear to be this and might carry hantavirus (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Get in contact with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

For more stories like this, <\/strong>check our news page<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/use><\/svg>MORE: Ten people from distant islands to land in UK to self isolate after hantavirus outbreak<\/span><\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/use><\/svg>MORE: People in gas masks and biological suits help evacuate hantavirus cruise passengers<\/span><\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/use><\/svg>MORE: Inside daring parachute mission to support hantavirus victim on Tristan da Cunha<\/span><\/p>\n

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To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to an online browser that supports HTML5 video One in every of the world\u2019s leading health experts has warned that we are able to expect more hantavirus cases within the near future. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organisation, maintains there are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":333983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20691],"tags":[13246,2655,27338,395,7749,813],"class_list":["post-333982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-cases","tag-chief","tag-hantavirus","tag-news","tag-warns","tag-world"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333982"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333982\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":333985,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333982\/revisions\/333985"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/333983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}