Three deaths, eleven confirmed or probable cases, a cruise ship en route to the Netherlands for sanitization. The Andes hantavirus outbreak that broke out on board the MV Hondius has imposed coordination on health authorities around the world that has not been seen since Covid, with the difference, underlined several times by the WHO, that this time the epidemiological conditions are radically different. Following the developments of the matter, on 11 May 2026 the Italian Ministry of Health issued circular no. 3482 to Regions, health authorities and Maritime, Air and Border Health Offices. The document, signed by the head of the Prevention department Maria Rosaria Campitiello and the director Sergio Iavicoli, outlines the situation and establishes the precautionary measures for the national territory.
The situation in Italy
Four people are currently in self-isolation in Italy. These are passengers on the KLM flight on which a woman who later died from hantavirus had boarded for a few minutes in Johannesburg: a fifty-year-old South African doctor in Veneto, a thirty-seven-year-old woman resident in the Florentine area, a twenty-four year old from Torre del Greco and a twenty-five year old from Villa San Giovanni. As of May 12, all were asymptomatic; the Venetian patient has already tested negative in the diagnostic test, but Campitiello specified that “he could test positive” in the following weeks. The expected quarantine is six weeks, approximately 42 days, starting from the last exposure, a time frame that reflects the incubation period of the Andes virus, generally between two and four weeks but which can extend up to six.
Who is considered high risk
The Ministry circular. in line with the WHO guidelines of 8 May, distinguishes two categories of contact:
Why Andes virus is different from other hantaviruses
The point that international health authorities insistently repeat is one, namely that the Andes virus is the only hantavirus whose transmission from person to person is documented, even if only in the presence of close and prolonged contact. The other strains are transmitted exclusively from rodents to humans (through inhalation of particles contaminated by urine, feces and/or saliva) and not between humans. The ministerial circular reiterates this precisely, asserting that the Andes virus is not present in Italy. Its natural reservoir, the rodent Oligoryzomys longicaudatuslives exclusively in South America. Other strains are circulating in Italy (Puumala and Dobrava) and human cases are very rare.
The position of the WHO
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in a joint press conference with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez at Moncloa, confirmed that all Hondius passengers had been traced as of May 12. Eleven cases in total, nine already confirmed, with three deaths, the last of which dates back to May 2nd. The WHO has made available an updated epidemiological bulletin and a technical note for managing passenger disembarkation. ECDC updates its outbreak page in real time.
Symptoms to watch out for
According to the official FAQs of the Ministry of Health, symptoms of Andes virus infection generally appear between one and eight weeks after exposure and include fever, headache, muscle pain and gastrointestinal disorders, such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. In severe cases, the disease can rapidly progress to hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS), which means respiratory distress, hypotension and collapse can occur. The mortality rate of HCPS can be as high as 50%.
There is no specific antiviral therapy: the treatments are supportive and are more effective the earlier the diagnosis is. No vaccine is currently available. For high-risk contacts who develop compatible symptoms, the ministerial circular establishes the absolute priority in carrying out the molecular test, “in order to guarantee timely clinical management and the activation of appropriate prevention measures.” The 42 days from the evacuation of the Hondius expire on June 21st. From that date, barring new developments, the WHO expects that the acute phase of surveillance can be considered concluded.
