‘This Is Not COVID’: WHO Reassures Public Over Hantavirus Outbreak

WHO said the hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship is not comparable to COVID and remains limited to passengers onboard.

During a media briefing hosted by WHO Director-General Tedros senior officials attempted to calm fears surrounding the outbreak.

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• International contact tracing underway for disembarked passengers.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has sought to reassure the public over the ongoing hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship in the South Atlantic, stressing that the situation is not comparable to the COVID-19 pandemic. The outbreak has already claimed three lives, while several passengers have reportedly fallen ill, triggering an international health response. Around 40 passengers disembarked on the remote island of St Helena after the death of the first passenger, prompting authorities across multiple countries to begin contact tracing and monitoring efforts linked to the ship.

WHO Reassures Public

During a media briefing hosted by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, senior officials attempted to calm fears surrounding the outbreak.

“This is not COVID. This is a very different virus, and we know this virus. Hantavirus has been around for many years,” a WHO official said, adding that the current outbreak remains confined to the cruise ship and its passengers.

The official further stressed that the world was not facing the same circumstances as it did during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic six years ago.

WHO emergency alert and response director Abdi Rahman Mahamud also expressed confidence that the outbreak could be contained if countries continued implementing public health measures and coordinated internationally.

Global Response

The outbreak aboard the cruise ship has prompted health agencies in several countries to intensify surveillance and trace individuals who may have come into contact with infected passengers.

Authorities are particularly focused on passengers who disembarked at Saint Helena, a remote island in the South Atlantic, after the first death was reported onboard.

According to officials, the hantavirus outbreak has so far remained limited to passengers and those directly linked to the vessel. Health experts have emphasised that hantavirus is a known disease and does not spread in the same manner as highly transmissible respiratory viruses like COVID-19.

The WHO has continued to monitor the situation closely while urging countries to maintain vigilance, strengthen contact tracing and ensure rapid public health coordination to prevent further spread.