The hantavirus outbreak detected on the cruise ship Hondius has caused international concern and numerous comparisons with the coronavirus pandemic. However, epidemiologists and health officials insist that both scenarios are very different and recall that hantavirus does not present a transmission capacity comparable to that of covid-19.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and various experts have called for avoiding alarmist interpretations, while health monitoring of the ship continues, which was initially heading to Cape Verde and has been redirected to the Canary Islands after several infections and at least two deaths were registered.
According to El País, experts consulted by the newspaper point out that hantavirus "is not transmitted like covid" and recall that the reproductive number of the virus is "practically zero" compared to community-transmitted respiratory diseases.
WHO insists that human-to-human transmission is exceptional
The WHO's head of epidemic preparedness, Maria Van Kerkhove, explained that the main hypothesis is that the first infections occurred outside the ship and recalled that human-to-human transmission is exceptional and limited to certain specific variants of the virus.
On the same line, epidemiologist Amós García, a member of the WHO's European committee, assured in statements to Cadena SER that expansion outside the cruise ship is "practically impossible" considering the known characteristics of the virus.
For the moment, the WHO maintains the investigation open to determine how exactly the outbreak occurred within the ship and if there was any case of transmission between people during the trip.
A virus linked mainly to rodents
Hantavirus has re-emerged in the news following the outbreak registered in Hondius, although health authorities and scientific evidence agree that it is not a virus with high transmission in daily life.
Unlike other respiratory pathogens, hantavirus does not circulate widely among people nor does it generate large community outbreaks. Its transmission is mainly linked to contact with infected rodents or with environments contaminated by these animals.
Contagion usually occurs through inhalation of particles from urine, feces, or saliva of infected rodents. It can also occur through direct contact with these animals or, in less frequent situations, through bites.
This pattern explains that cases normally appear associated with rural spaces, closed warehouses, or areas with the presence of rodents, and not with habitual urban life.