Devi Sridhar Says Hantavirus Infections Spread Risk Remains on Cruise Ship
Devi Sridhar said hantavirus infections on a cruise ship carrying about 150 people from 23 nationalities have been handled well so far, even as more positive cases are expected in the coming days and weeks. The University of Edinburgh public health chair said the outbreak has already moved beyond the ship after some passengers disembarked and took commercial flights home.
“All the protocols that health experts like me look for have been followed,” Sridhar said. She also warned: “We will know how many others were infected on the cruise ship in a matter of days, so expect more positive cases.”
Devi Sridhar on the cruise ship
The cruise ship is the first known setting in this account where the Andes strain hantavirus has appeared on board, and that matters because the strain can spread from human to human. Sridhar said, “this isn’t the Covid pandemic – only Covid was Covid.”
Hantavirus cases happen all the time across the world, but previous outbreaks have been contained. This one is being watched closely because some passengers left before the outbreak was detected, creating a wider tracking job across home countries and commercial flights.
Andes strain and 42-day quarantine
The outbreak response relies on isolation and quarantine, N95 masks and stopping chains of infection. Passengers returning to their home countries are meant to quarantine for the full WHO-recommended 42 days, which matches the virus’s one-to-eight-week incubation period.
That response is all the more important because there is no approved vaccine, no specific therapeutic and no rapid diagnostic test for the Andes strain. No secondary contacts on flights or elsewhere had been identified so far.
Argentina 2018 outbreak
The comparison point in the current discussion is Argentina, where an Andes strain hantavirus outbreak in 2018 had 34 confirmed cases and 11 deaths. Sridhar said the strain was the one health experts had hoped to avoid because it can spread from person to person and has previously caused super-spreading events.
For passengers who have already gone home, the practical next step is quarantine through the full 42 days and watch for test results in the coming days. For health teams, the unresolved question is how many of the remaining shipboard cases and any later secondary infections will appear before that window closes.
