Hantavirus outbreak: Why this is not the new COVID-19 pandemic

Health expert Tayeb Hamdi has ruled out the possibility that hantavirus could become the next highly deadly pandemic, despite warnings from the World Health Organization that more cases could emerge following three deaths on a cruise ship.

Hamdi said several reassuring factors remain, noting that human-to-human transmission is extremely limited compared to animal-to-human transmission. When it does occur, it generally requires close and prolonged contact in confined environments, such as cruise ships with shared spaces and ventilation systems.

He explained that human-to-human transmission is exceptionally rare and has only been documented with the Andes virus—one of 38 known hantavirus strains—which is the variant identified in the cruise ship cases.

Hamdi stressed that while the situation is concerning at the outbreak level, it still poses a limited global pandemic risk unless future mutations significantly increase transmissibility.

On Thursday, the World Health Organization also emphasized that the hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship in the Atlantic does not signal the start of a COVID-19-like crisis.

Symptoms

Hantavirus symptoms typically begin with fever, severe muscle pain—particularly in the back and thighs, fatigue, and headache.

In severe cases, the disease can progress to acute respiratory distress, known as Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, or to acute kidney failure in forms associated with hemorrhagic fever.

Although relatively rare worldwide, hantavirus infections can be serious.

The fatality rate ranges from less than 1% to 15% in Asia and Europe and can reach up to 50% in the Americas, according to the World Health Organization.

It is estimated that between 10,000 and more than 100,000 cases occur globally each year, with most reported in Asia and Europe.

Transmission

Hantaviruses are primarily transmitted to humans through contact with urine, droppings, or saliva from infected rodents, and less commonly through rodent bites.

The risk increases during activities that involve exposure to rodents, such as cleaning enclosed or poorly ventilated spaces, farming, forestry work, or sleeping in infested areas.