CARPHA seeks to calm fears over cruise ship hantavirus outbreak

Caribbean health authorities have urged calm amid growing concern over a hantavirus outbreak linked to a European cruise vessel, stressing that the risk to the region remains low despite rising global attention and online misinformation.

Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) Executive Director Dr Lisa Indar told journalists at a briefing on the Andes strain of hantavirus that regional and international health agencies were closely monitoring the situation, but maintained that the overall public health risk to the Caribbean remained low.

The outbreak has been linked to a cruise ship operating in Europe where passengers and crew from at least 28 countries were on board. According to CARPHA, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Dutch authorities have implemented strict health protocols after a cluster of respiratory illnesses was reported on May 2 by the United Kingdom’s International Health Regulations focal point.

“To date, as of this morning, May 11, eight cases have been identified by the WHO, including both confirmed and suspected infections,” Indar said. “In addition this includes three reported deaths.”

Passengers and crew originated from countries including the Philippines, United States, United Kingdom and the Netherlands, while some individuals had been medically evacuated or disembarked in different jurisdictions, triggering international contact tracing efforts.

Indar noted that hantaviruses are typically spread through exposure to infected rodents or their droppings, urine and saliva. But she pointed out that the current outbreak involves the Andes strain — the only known hantavirus strain capable of limited human-to-human transmission.

Despite that, the CARPHA head repeatedly cautioned against sensationalism and inaccurate reporting.

“I want the media to know that there has been a lot of misinformation that has been going out,” she said.

Dr Indar also directly addressed reports circulating on social media suggesting that a passenger from St Kitts and Nevis had contracted the virus aboard the affected ship.

“The Chief Medical Officer would have sent out a statement,” she said. “It says there is no suspected or confirmed cases in the Federation of Saint Kitts.”

She urged the public to rely on verified scientific evidence rather than speculation.

“Based on the scientific evidence, the risk remains low,” Indar stressed. “CARPHA is being very diligent [and] if in the unlikely situation this were to change, CARPHA would be the first to notify the Caribbean public.”

CARPHA’s Director of Surveillance, Disease Prevention and Control, Dr Horace Cox, echoed the call for vigilance without panic: “Our message to the public is that even though the risk at this moment based on evidence available to us is low, we do encourage that they implement the public health measures and actions that we have included in our media releases.”

Rodent control and hygiene practices remain essential, not only for hantavirus prevention but also for diseases such as leptospirosis, he added.

He also encouraged the public to seek information from trusted sources, including CARPHA’s official website and recognised public health institutions, amid what he described as a “deluge of information” online.

The current outbreak is linked to the Dutch-flagged cruise ship MV Hondius, which left Argentina on April 1 with around 150 passengers and crew and later reported a cluster of severe respiratory illnesses during its Atlantic crossing, including eight suspected hantavirus infections and three deaths confirmed by the WHO, although the overall global risk is still assessed as low.

Hantaviruses are a group of viruses usually carried by wild rodents, and people are typically infected when they breathe in air contaminated by the animals’ urine, droppings or saliva, which can cause a severe, sometimes fatal, respiratory illness known as hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. The Andes strain linked to the current cruise ship outbreak is unusual because it is the only one known to spread, in limited circumstances, from person to person.

(SB)