Andes Hantavirus Confirmed to Spread Between Cruise Passengers

Joint laboratory work by Spain's Carlos III Health Institute and Argentina's Malbran Institute showed that virus samples taken from cases on board carry almost identical genetic sequences. This points to either a single shared source or, more likely, transmission between passengers, beyond the usual rodent-borne route.

Usually confined to the Patagonian regions of Chile and Argentina, the Andes virus has been known to spread between close relatives at home since 1996. Confirming such transmission across a broad group of passengers on board a ship would mark a critical epidemiological threshold.

The World Health Organization is expected to consider updates to ventilation and isolation rules on passenger ships at a special meeting this week. Experts say there is no need for panic but that contact tracing must be rigorous.