Jamaine Punzalan

This 1994 handout photo from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) obtained on May 6, 2026, shows a photograph taken through a microscope of a liver tissue specimen that was extracted from a hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) patient. Three people believed to have been infected with hantavirus have been evacuated from a cruise ship off Cape Verde and are being taken to the Netherlands, the WHO chief said on May 6, 2026. CDC/AFP

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/178235425681620260506-hantavirus-AFP.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">This 1994 handout photo from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) obtained on May 6, 2026, shows a photograph taken through a microscope of a liver tissue specimen that was extracted from a hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) patient. Three people believed to have been infected with hantavirus have been evacuated from a cruise ship off Cape Verde and are being taken to the Netherlands, the WHO chief said on May 6, 2026. CDC/AFP </span></span></span></div><p>The <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/health-science/2026/5/19/hantavirus-hit-cruise-ship-ends-deadly-voyage-0924">deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship</a>, which sparked international alarm, should be formally declared over on July 2, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Wednesday.</p><p>However, while the episode is nearing the end for the remaining people in quarantine, for scientists and experts, the work is only in its early stages.</p><p>Virus samples will be worked on to see if tests, treatments and vaccines could be developed for future outbreaks.</p><p>There were 12 confirmed and one probable case stemming from the MV Hondius, including three deaths, in an outbreak which sparked an international health alert.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/6/19/quarantine-over-for-almost-all-hantavirus-ship-passengers-crew-0843">Quarantine over for almost all hantavirus ship passengers, crew </a></div><p>The Dutch-flagged ship set off April 1 from Ushuaia, Argentina, taking in remote islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, including Tristan da Cunha, before heading north to Tenerife in Spain&#x27;s Canary Islands, where remaining passengers were evacuated.</p><p>WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday that in total, more than 650 contacts were identified and followed up by health authorities in 33 countries and territories.</p><p>&quot;All but 54 contacts have completed their period of quarantine, and the remaining contacts are scheduled to complete their quarantine period by July 2,&quot; he told a press conference at the WHO headquarters in Geneva.</p><p>&quot;If no further cases are reported by then, WHO will consider the outbreak to be over.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/health-science/2026/5/25/38-ofws-aboard-hantavirus-stricken-ship-test-negative-remain-asymptomatic-dmw-0011">38 OFWs aboard hantavirus-stricken ship test negative, remain asymptomatic -- DMW </a><br/><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/health-science/2026/5/5/pls-publish-at-1130pm-who-human-to-human-transmission-suspected-on-hantavirus-cruise-ship-2330">WHO: Human-to-human transmission suspected on hantavirus cruise ship </a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>STUDIES AND SAMPLES</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>But he said the WHO would continue working to understand the outbreak, and the virus itself.</p><p>The UN health agency is working with partners who collected environmental samples on the ship, and coordinating a study among those exposed to the virus to better understand how the disease develops.</p><p>&quot;We are also working on having a sample of the virus shared with the WHO BioHub in Switzerland,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;This will be important for developing diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines for future outbreaks.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/health-science/2026/5/8/hantavirus-not-like-covid-doctor-treating-patient-in-netherlands-0724">Hantavirus not like Covid: doctor treating patient </a></div><p><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/health-science/2026/5/4/explainer-what-is-hantavirus-1844">Spread by rodents</a>, hantavirus is a rare virus for which no vaccines or specific treatments exist.</p><p>The Andes species behind the Hondius outbreak is the only strain of hantavirus known to be able to jump from human to human.</p><p>The polar exploration ship finally docked on May 18 in Rotterdam harbour in the Netherlands.</p><p>The British island of Tristan da Cunha -- population 220 -- held a party on Saturday to celebrate the end of the virus threat to their tiny community, after the final group of people finished quarantine.</p><p>After an islander who disembarked from the Hondius fell ill, a British army specialist team parachuted onto the island -- one of the world&#x27;s most isolated settlements -- to provide medical care and emergency supplies. </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/health-science/2026/5/8/doh-monitoring-preparations-in-place-for-hantavirus-1117">DOH: Monitoring, preparations in place for hantavirus </a><br/><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/health-science/2026/5/5/what-is-hantavirus-and-can-it-spread-between-humans-0926">What is hantavirus, and can it spread between humans? </a></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7rjaJNNoCDo?&amp;pp=0gcJCT8LAYcqIYzv&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sRUWRdvmTgw?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>The deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship, which sparked international alarm, should be formally declared over on July 2, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Wednesday.</p>

The deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship, which sparked international alarm, should be formally declared over on July 2, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Wednesday.

Hantavirus outbreak should formally end on July 2: WHO

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Hantavirus outbreak should formally end on July 2: WHO

Agence France-Presse

Published June 25, 2026 10:27 AM PHT

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