Hantavirus risk remains low amid cruise ship cluster, officials say

Medical authorities are urging calm while maintaining close surveillance after a cluster of hantavirus cases linked to a cruise ship in the Central Atlantic, stressing that the overall risk remains low and there is no evidence of widespread transmission.

President of the Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners (BAMP), Dr Lynda Williams, said while the situation is being closely monitored, there is no cause for alarm at this stage.

“The [World Health Organisation] has not said anything like that at this point in time, so we can’t jump ahead to that, Dr Williams told Barbados TODAY. “We are watching it, we’re observing and we’re listening to the updates.”

Hantavirus is not typically spread from person to person, although the Andes strain – identified in the current cluster – is the only known variant capable of limited human-to-human transmission, she noted.

“There is a strain that is spreading human to human. The ship on which these people were affected is completely quarantined and, as far as we know, the situation is under control.”

While hantavirus does exist in Barbados, cases are extremely uncommon and are generally linked to exposure to rodents, she added.

“We have hantavirus here in Barbados. It is very rare – usually people in contact with rodents – and I’ve seen maybe three or four cases in my entire career,” she said, adding that leptospirosis is far more common locally.

“It is nothing to worry about as yet. There’s nothing that has indicated to us that this is being spread in a widespread manner that is even an epidemic, furthermore, pandemic. There’s no need to panic.”

The WHO was notified last Saturday by the United Kingdom’s International Health Regulations focal point of a cluster of respiratory illness affecting passengers and crew aboard a cruise ship in the Central Atlantic Ocean. Laboratory testing confirmed hantavirus in one critically ill patient.

On Thursday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reported that eight cases had been identified so far, including five laboratory-confirmed infections and three suspected cases linked to the rare Andes strain.

In the region, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) also moved to calm fears, stating on Wednesday that the region is not currently at risk.

“At this time, the risk to the Caribbean region is considered low,” executive director Dr Lisa Indar said, explaining that in the Americas, hantaviruses are most commonly transmitted by wild field rodents rather than urban rat populations, making transmission less likely.

But with the Caribbean accounting for about 44 per cent of global cruise traffic and recording an estimated 16.3 million passengers in 2025, CARPHA has urged member states to remain vigilant and strengthen surveillance at ports of entry.

CARPHA’s Tourism and Health Information System and Caribbean Vessel Surveillance System remain key tools in providing early warning of public health threats linked to tourism and maritime travel, Dr Indar said. 

The Andes strain, found in parts of Latin America, is the only hantavirus known to allow limited human-to-human spread, generally requiring close and prolonged contact, particularly among household members, intimate partners or healthcare workers.

“At this stage, the overall public health risk remains low,” Tedros said, while WHO officials stressed that the outbreak bears no resemblance to the emergence of COVID-19 in 2020.

“This is not SARS-CoV-2. This is not the start of a COVID pandemic,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s acting director for epidemic and pandemic management.

Hantavirus: What to Know

Hantaviruses are a group of viruses carried by rodents that can cause severe disease in humans.

People usually get infected through contact with infected rodents or their urine, droppings or saliva.

Infection with hantaviruses can cause a range of illnesses, including severe disease and death.

In the Americas, hantaviruses can cause hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS), a severe respiratory illness, with a case fatality rate of up to 50 per cent.

The Andes virus, found in South America, is currently the only known hantavirus for which limited human-to-human transmission among contacts has been documented.

In Europe and Asia, hantaviruses cause haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), leading to high fever, kidney damage or kidney failure, and internal bleeding.