Hantavirus outbreak: Could it be new pandemic threat like COVID? Experts weigh in

The medical community is on edge as the hantavirus outbreak has taken three lives linked to an expedition cruise ship, the MV Hondius, as of mid-May 2026, confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Recently, another six people aboard on the ship were also taken to a quarantine center in Australia after they were infected with hantavirus. The specific cluster involves the Andes strain which is uniquely notable because it is the only strain of hantavirus capable of rare person-to-person transmission.

Reports of hantavirus cases have sparked immediate concern, naturally drawing comparisons to the Covid-19 pandemic that reshaped global life. Now the question arises: could hantavirus outbreak become another covid-like pandemic?

However, the medical experts negated the possibility that a hantavirus outbreak could morph into a global pandemic.

According to WHO epidemiologist, Maria Van Kerkhov, hantavirus outbreak is not the next COVID. But we cannot downplay its severity as it is a serious infectious disease. And in most severe cases, people can die.

The New York Times’ global health reporter, Apoorva Mandavilli, also explains that there is no tangible indication the hantavirus outbreak could turn into a pandemic.

Professor Emma Thomson heads the MRC Centre for Virus Research at Glasgow University – one of only two centres in the UK currently researching hantavirus, said, “it will be very, very unlikely that hantavirus will be akin to the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Prof Thomson said it “wouldn’t be very surprising if we found one or two positive tests in the UK, one or two positive people”.

This scenario would be “in keeping with other countries and what they have seen. I would expect that that could be managed very easily with the existing facilities we have,” she added.

“It is very, very unlikely that something like this will turn into something akin to the Covid 19 pandemic.”

There is currently no vaccine and no specific treatment available for this virus. The MRC Centre for Virus Research is analysing whether existing antiviral treatments could be effective against it.

Prof Thomson added, “We will also be using methods to think about new treatments for Andes virus, which is the cause of this outbreak.