Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (hereafter referred to as CDC) said today (the 7th) that the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a disease outbreak notice on May 4, 2026, reporting a cluster of Andes virus hantavirus on the Dutch‑registered international cruise ship “MV Hondius” during its voyage across the South Atlantic. As of May 5, WHO has identified 8 cruise‑related cases, including 3 deaths; among the 8 cases, 3 were laboratory‑confirmed hantavirus infections, and of those, 2 had viral genome sequencing confirming Andes virus, with the remaining sequencing still pending. WHO assesses that the most likely scenario for this cluster is that a traveler was exposed to hantavirus in Argentina or the southern cone of South America, boarded the ship during the incubation period, and then transmitted the virus through prolonged close contact, resulting in two additional confirmed cases and at least one probable case. Based on current epidemiological and laboratory information, WHO judges the overall risk on the ship as moderate and the global risk as low; given that the outbreak is limited to a single international cruise ship and a few cases exported after disembarkation, and that the animal reservoir for Andes virus, the long‑tailed rice rat, is not present in Taiwan, the direct import risk to our country is limited, domestic risk is low, and there is currently no need to raise travel health alerts. Nevertheless, the CDC will continue close monitoring of the incident, has formed a task force, and will adjust control measures in line with WHO and international recommendations.
The CDC explained that the “MV Hondius” departed from Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1, 2026, sailing across the South Atlantic, with stops at remote, highly biodiverse locations including mainland Antarctica, South Georgia Island, Nightingale Island, Tristan da Cunha, St. Helena, and Ascension Island. There were 147 people on board, including 86 passengers and 61 crew members, from 23 countries, and it has been anchored at a location off Cabo Verde since May 4. Follow‑up investigations found that 26 passengers had disembarked at St. Helena, of whom 13 were classified as high‑risk contacts, and one of them returned to his home country on a commercial flight from St. Helena; on May 5, Switzerland reported one cruise passenger with a PCR‑confirmed positive Andes virus, who is currently in isolation and treatment in Switzerland.
The CDC emphasized that the hantavirus cases historically identified in Taiwan, both domestic and imported, have been the less severe, lower‑mortality “Seoul virus”, and the Andes virus involved in this cruise incident has never been detected in Taiwan; previously, only two imported cases have been recorded, one in 2007 from China and one in 2019 from Indonesia, with no imports from South America. The CDC will continue to closely monitor the epidemic dynamics, strengthen public education reminding people traveling to South America to avoid contact with rodents, thereby reducing the threat of South American import cases. The public can be assured.
Source: Taiwan Centers for Disease Control
Data compiled: Gankuan Office
