The Italian government ruled out on Sunday (10) the risk of a new pandemic caused by the hantavirus, a pathogen that has already killed three people and infected five others on board the MV Hondius cruise shipThe vessel was making a transatlantic crossing between Ushuaia, in the far south of Argentina, and Cape Verde, on the African coast.
“There is no risk of a new pandemic, we are not in the same situation as with Covid, there is no reason for alarm at the moment. This is a different virus from Covid, although more lethal, with a low capacity for contagion,” stated Mara Campitiello, head of the Prevention Department of the Italian Ministry of Health, according to Ansa.
Preventive quarantine
Italy has identified four people who had brief contact with one of the victims during a flight and placed them in isolation as a precaution. According to Campitiello, all are asymptomatic.
The health authority explained that the prolonged incubation period justifies the measure. "Transmissibility appears to occur not in the pre-clinical phase, but rather at the onset of symptoms," it added.
The outbreak
Hantavirus is primarily transmitted through contact with aerosols formed from secretions of wild rodents, and is endemic in Argentina. The strain identified in MV Hondius is the Andes subtype, the only one capable of transmission between humans, albeit uncommonly.
The World Health Organization (WHO) believes the initial infection occurred while the ship was still on Argentinian soil, before boarding. The ship departed from Ushuaia on April 1, 2026, with approximately 150 passengers and crew members of 23 nationalities.
Initial symptoms of the disease include fatigue, fever, muscle and headaches, dizziness, and chills. More severe cases can progress to acute cardiopulmonary syndromes, kidney failure, and hemorrhagic fever. There is no specific treatment or vaccine available.
