Is hantavirus spreading across the world? Could it lead to Covid-like pandemic?

The hantavirus outbreak aboard a Dutch cruise ship has spread worldwide concerns. The MV Hondius, which is rocked by the virus, will dock in the Canary Islands by the weekend.

Three passengers on board the ship died and five other people got sick after showing symptoms of the hantavirus. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), multiple countries are now involved in tracking and monitoring the rare, rodent-borne disease.

Visuals of medics dressed in hazmat suits to escort patients suspected of being infected with hantavirus have evoked memories of Covid-19.

Can this outbreak lead to the next pandemic? We take a look.

What is hantavirus?

Hantaviruses are a family of viruses spread mainly by rodents. A person can contract infection from rodents, typically rats and mice, through dried urine and droppings.

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A strain, known as the Andes virus, found in South America, is believed to spread through human-to-human transmission, a rarity. The virus can lead to a severe and usually fatal lung disease called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.

Passengers on the MV Hondius ship reportedly tested positive for the Andes virus.

Hantavirus can infect humans through contact with rodents or their urine, faeces, or saliva. The Andes virus, which is mostly found in Argentina and Chile, has previously triggered limited infections among close contacts.

In late 2018, a single person, infected with the virus, unknowingly spread the disease to 34 others at a party in Argentina, leading to 11 deaths.

How many countries has hantavirus spread in?

A flight attendant, who was in contact with a woman who died of hantavirus in Johannesburg, has been hospitalised with mild symptoms in the Netherlands, BNO News reported on Thursday (May 7).

Argentina is rushing to find out whether it was the source of the deadly hantavirus outbreak on the Atlantic cruise ship.

The MV Hondius ship had departed from the South American country for Antarctica. As per the WHO, a 70-year-old Dutch man became the first casualty on board the cruise ship on April 11. His 69-year-old wife flew on a plane from Saint Helena to South Africa, collapsing at a Johannesburg airport. She died in a hospital on April 26.

A German woman was the third person to die on May 2.

Before boarding the Dutch-flagged cruise liner, the elderly Dutch couple had visited Ushuaia, a city in southern Argentina, Uruguay and Chile, The Guardian reported, citing the Argentinian government.

On Tuesday, the Argentine health ministry reported 101 hantavirus cases since June 2025.

A British passenger on the cruise ship, suspected to have been infected with the virus, is in intensive care in South Africa.

A Swiss passenger, who left the ship earlier in the journey, is being treated at a Zurich hospital.

Three other passengers were reportedly evacuated from the MV Hondius off Cape Verde on Wednesday. Two patients have arrived in the Netherlands, where they are being treated, a statement from Oceanwide Expeditions, the Dutch company operating the cruise, said.

The third patient was evacuated on a separate flight, the company added.

Two other British passengers, likely exposed to the virus, are isolating at home.

About 23 passengers, who disembarked the cruise ship on the island of Saint Helena on April 23, have also raised concerns, the Spanish newspaper, El País, reported. “There are 23 people wandering around there, and until three days ago, no one had contacted them,” a passenger told the newspaper on condition of anonymity.

These people are believed to have returned to their respective countries, including the United States.

As per a New York Times (NYT) report on Wednesday, residents in Georgia, California and Arizona were being monitored for potential hantavirus infections. However, none of them has displayed signs of illness.

As many as 146 people from 23 countries remain on the MV Hondius as it heads to the Canary Islands. These passengers will have to undergo a medical check-up before being able to travel home, reported BBC.

Can hantavirus cause the next pandemic?

Hantavirus is not a new disease, with the first case reported in 1993. However, local public health researchers in Argentina have warned that the risk of the spread of infections has increased due to climate change.

According to public health experts, higher temperatures raise the virus’ range because, as it gets warmer and ecosystems change, rodents that carry the hantavirus can flourish in more places, reported The Guardian. 

“Argentina has become more tropical because of climate change, and that has brought disruptions, like dengue and yellow fever, but also new tropical plants that produce seeds for mice to proliferate,” said Hugo Pizzi, a prominent Argentine infectious disease specialist. “There is no doubt that as time goes by, the hantavirus is spreading more and more.”

A drone view of the cruise ship MV Hondius, carrying passengers suspected of having cases of hantavirus on board, leaves Praia, Cape Verde, May 6, 2026. Reuters

Experts have allayed concerns about the disease spreading on a large scale across the world.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the WHO, wrote on X that the “WHO continues to work with the ship’s operators to closely monitor the health of passengers and crew, working with countries to support appropriate medical follow-up and evacuation where needed.”

“Monitoring and follow-up for passengers onboard and for those who have already disembarked has been initiated in collaboration with the ship’s operators and national health authorities,” he added. “At this stage, the overall public health risk remains low.”

Experts say that currently, there is no evidence of spread beyond the ship.

“This is not the next Covid, but it is a serious infectious disease,” the WHO's top epidemic expert, Maria Van Kerkhove, said. “Most people will never be exposed to this.”

With inputs from agencies