A hantavirus outbreak has occurred on the MV Hondius cruise ship, which left from Argentina on 1 April. It originally docked on the coast of Cape Verde, although the country refused to grant docking permission for the ship due to fear of viral spread, and arrived in Tenerife, Spain, as of 10 May. Passengers are being repatriated and then brought to an isolation facility for at least one week due to concerns about further spread of the disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported seven confirmed cases of hantavirus, including three deaths, and two suspected cases as of 11 May.
Symptoms of hantavirus include fever, gastrointestinal symptoms, rapid progression to pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and shock. In response to the outbreak, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has classified the outbreak as a “level 3” emergency response, which is the lowest level and means the CDC is actively monitoring the outbreak, but the risk to the general public is low.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Access deeper industry intelligence
Experience unmatched clarity with a single platform that combines unique data, AI, and human expertise.
Hantavirus is a rodent-borne virus and can infect people through contact with rodent urine, droppings, or saliva, or by inhaling contaminated dust. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome can develop as a result, which can develop rapidly into a severe disease. The WHO states that infections are uncommon globally but can be serious, with case fatality rates reported up to 50% in the Americas. There are more than 50 types of hantaviruses, but this specific outbreak has been caused by the Andes virus, which is normally found in South America.
Treatment focuses on supportive care based on symptoms, such as hospital care and respiratory support. As with many other viral infections, there is currently no widely available vaccine or specific antiviral treatment for hantavirus infections. This trend can also be seen across the viral disease spectrum, such as in the case of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and herpes simplex virus (HSV), which have no specific targeted treatments or cures despite having a high burden of disease. There is a large unmet need for greater investment in antivirals, particularly novel broad-spectrum antivirals, in order to combat viral infections, as well as future outbreaks and pandemics.
Various initiatives are trying to de-risk, fund, and speed up novel antiviral R&D, including the Pandemic Antiviral Discovery (PAD) initiative, which is a philanthropic consortium that funds early-stage discovery projects for pandemic-threat viruses and aims to make resulting therapies globally accessible. Another example is the Synthetic Carbohydrate Receptors (SCRs) & SCRIBE Project that aims to develop SCR small molecule drugs that bind to N-glycans, carbohydrate chains that are present on the surfaces of various pathogens, including viruses such as hantaviruses. These initiatives will be important to combat future outbreaks and pandemics, especially as climate change may influence the transmission and burden of infectious diseases.
