Very low risk of hantavirus to the European population
The wider spread of disease caused by hantavirus in Europe is unlikely, and the risk to the public is very low, according to a risk assessment published by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Two Finnish travellers may have been exposed to hantavirus on an aeroplane in Johannesburg.
On a cruise ship operating in the Atlantic Ocean and originally departing from Argentina, five people have been confirmed and three are suspected to have contracted hantavirus. In all confirmed cases, further analysis identified the virus as Andes virus, which belongs to the hantavirus group. Three of those who fell ill on board have died.
The vessel is currently approaching the Canary Islands, where it is expected to arrive on 10 May 2026. There have been no Finnish citizens on board.
One of the infected individuals was briefly on a plane from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Amsterdam on 25 April. Two passengers residing in Finland who were on the same flight may also have been exposed to the virus and have since arrived in Finland. THL has contacted them in accordance with standard communicable disease control procedures. The passengers are asymptomatic and have been referred to healthcare services.
Public health authorities in different countries are coordinating their actions closely to manage the situation.
In Finland, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is preparing an amendment to the Communicable Diseases Decree to classify disease caused by Andes virus as a generally hazardous communicable disease. This would allow, among other measures, the quarantine of suspected cases and provide entitlement to infectious disease allowance.
THL is monitoring the situation together with ECDC and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Human-to-human transmission is rare
Hantaviruses are primarily viruses found in rodents but can also infect humans. Infection most commonly occurs when dust or particles contaminated with rodent excreta enter the respiratory tract or broken skin.
Human-to-human transmission has also been reported, but it has required close and prolonged contact with an infected person.
In Europe, the most common hantavirus is Puumala virus, mainly found in Finland and Sweden, which causes nephropathia epidemica.
Andes virus, found in South America, causes a more severe disease primarily affecting the respiratory system, with symptoms such as fever, cough, and in some cases nausea or diarrhea. Human infections have been very rare.
Symptoms of hantavirus disease usually begin about two weeks after infection, but the incubation period can vary from 1 to 6 weeks. There is no vaccine, and treatment is symptomatic.
More information
ECDC risk assessment: Hantavirus-associated cluster of illness on a cruise ship: ECDC assessment and recommendations
WHO: WHO’s response to hantavirus cases linked to a cruise ship
CDC: About Andes Virus
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Otto Helve
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Liina Voutilainen
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THL
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