WHO Hosts Webinar on Hantavirus in Maritime Settings as Cruise Ship Outbreak Investigated

The World Health Organization hosted an EPI-WIN webinar on hantavirus this week, focusing on its natural history, infection control, and clinical management in international maritime settings. The timing coincided with a U.S. investigation into a hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship.

Hantavirus is a rare but potentially deadly disease typically spread through contact with infected rodents or their droppings. Human-to-human transmission is uncommon but has been documented in some strains, particularly the Andes virus found in South America.

The WHO webinar brought together infectious disease experts, maritime health officials, and public health authorities to discuss how to detect, contain, and manage hantavirus cases aboard ships. Cruise ships present unique challenges for outbreak control because passengers and crew live in close quarters and travel across multiple countries.

U.S. health officials are separately investigating a hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship after exposed Americans returned home. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is tracking passengers and crew who may have been exposed.

Symptoms of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome include fever, muscle aches, and fatigue, followed by shortness of breath as fluid builds in the lungs. The disease has a fatality rate of roughly 38 percent in the United States.

The WHO webinar covered protocols for isolating suspected cases, protecting crew members who may have been exposed, and coordinating with port health authorities when a ship arrives in a new country.

The WHO also announced this week a renewed partnership with Gilead Sciences to accelerate the elimination of visceral leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease that kills tens of thousands of people each year, primarily in South Asia and East Africa.