Hantavirus outbreak raises human transmission fears
The latest case of the hantavirus — which describes a cluster of viruses — is by no means the first.
Craig Dalton, Conjoint Associate Professor at the University of Newcastle — who investigated the 1993 US hantavirus outbreak — told the Conversation that the first person infected by the MV Hondius on the cruise ship was likely exposed before boarding in Argentina. With eight cases now reported, and three deaths, Dalton explains that person-to-person transmission is a “leading hypothesis” that must be tested.
He notes that most hantaviruses do not spread between people. However, the South American Andes virus has done so occasionally, and the ship departed from Argentina, where the Andes virus has been detected. Andes virus is a strain of hantavirus found primarily in South America, particularly Argentina and Chile. Unlike other hantaviruses, the Andes virus has on rare occasions it has been documented spreading from person to person.
Dalton says that genetic sequencing testing would help confirm whether human-to-human transmission had occurred.
Climate change as a contributor
Scientists have warned that climate change may be contributing the spread of hantavirus in Argentina by boosting rodent populations. And the absence of a vaccine, the outbreak is stoking fear and panic in South America.
Argentina is facing renewed concern over hantavirus as scientists warn climate change may be increasing the spread of the deadly disease by boosting rodent populations, while experts say there is still no effective vaccine.
Al Jazeera’s @TeresaBo reports. pic.twitter.com/pEJlt2aMdx
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) May 8, 2026
The Canary has previously reported on research linking the spread of pathogens and infectious diseases to climate change, deforestation, and agricultural expansion in the Amazon. These include dengue, malaria, the Zika virus, and hantavirus.
The #Amazon warning call: a potential epicentre for the next pandemic is emerging & we’re the architects of our own demise. In-depth analysis from Canary writer @MAPICC2021 with comment from Joel Henrique Ellwanger & study from @ASOAntibiotics. Read more:https://t.co/bJvVpxV7h7
— Canary (@TheCanaryUK) February 12, 2024
Cross-continent spread
The MV Hondius cruise ship had passengers from twelve countries, including British nationals.
Hantavirus predicted in 2022? Post on Covid, new outbreak viral after cruise ship fiasco
Read: https://t.co/b8Q9FCqeqo@DasShuvrajit ✍🏻
More in today’s epaper 🗞️https://t.co/8DaFapiIh0 pic.twitter.com/OsvMhyviT1
— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) May 8, 2026
Bloomberg reported on Thursday that almost 150 passengers and crew remained isolated on board as the ship sailed toward the Canary Islands, where authorities are preparing to screen them and determine when they can disembark. They are expected to arrive in Tenerife on Sunday.
Cape Verde had refused to let it dock.
The BBC shared updated information on the status of the UK nationals who had been on the cruise ship, saying:
Three Britons are confirmed or suspected to have contracted hantavirus
One of them is being treated in the Netherlands, another man is being treated in South Africa, and a third is on the remote Atlantic island of Trista da Cunha
Seven Britons disembarked the MV Hondius in St Helena on 24 April before the first confirmed case of hantavirus was reported on 4 May, with four remaining there
Two of the Britons who disembarked on 24 April have already returned to the UK and are self-isolating voluntarily but do not have symptoms
The seventh person has not yet been traced, the UKHSA has said
Dalton, who investigated the 1993 US hantavirus outbreak, says person-to-person spread is now a leading hypothesis investigators must test.
Featured image via UK Health Security Agency
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“This strain of hantavirus carries a 38–40 percent case fatality rate, roughly 40 times that of COVID-19. There is no FDA-approved vaccine, no specific antiviral treatment, and an incubation period that can extend up to eight weeks before symptoms emerge. No one knows how many infections this cluster has already produced.
While of course a panic would not be beneficial in this situation, the facts that have emerged so far are highly disturbing and must be widely disseminated to the public in clear terms, with all necessary public health measures implemented. This disaster did not arise from the negligence of one ship’s officers or one set of port authorities. It is the wreckage of six years of the deliberate dismantling of public health in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a massive and ongoing social crime against the international working class.
What must be done now? In every workplace, school, hospital, port and ship, the working class must act independently and raise the following demands:
Immediate PCR and serology testing of every passenger, crew member, Saint Helena disembarkee and flight contact, with full public release of genomic sequencing.
Educators, healthcare workers and transit workers must demand the safe deployment of HEPA filtration and Far-UVC (222 nm) air disinfection in every indoor public space.
Every layoff at the CDC, NIH and HHS must be reversed; cruise inspection, zoonotic surveillance and pandemic preparedness must be restored on an emergency basis.
The criminal “let it rip” policy must be ended, and the elimination of COVID-19, influenza and other airborne pathogens taken up as the demand of the working class against the ruling class that has refused it.
Emergency action on climate change must be imposed against the financial oligarchy whose investments are driving accelerating zoonotic spillover.”
(‘The MV Hondius hantavirus outbreak and the threat of another pandemic’, World Socialist Web Site 8 May 2026)