WHO chief says cruise ship-linked hantavirus outbreak "over"

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday declared the Hantavirus outbreak linked to the cruise ship MV Hondius officially over, following the completion of quarantine for the final contact and no new cases reported for more than five weeks.

The WHO was notified of the outbreak on May 2 by Britain's International Health Regulations (IHR) National Focal Point. It involved a cluster of severe acute respiratory illness aboard the Dutch-flagged cruise ship. Although the outbreak is now over, WHO will continue working with governments and partners to advance understanding of this outbreak and of hantavirus more generally.

WHO is coordinating a study involving 21 countries to understand how the disease develops, which will support the development of diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines for future outbreaks.