After a lethal outbreak of hantavirus on a cruise ship, authorities around the world are racing to trace passengers who disembarked to prevent further infections.
The MV Hondius sailed from Argentina a month ago; the outbreak killed three and the remaining passengers are in quarantine, but some left the ship in April before isolation measures were implemented.
Although it sparked memories of the 2020 COVID outbreak on a cruise ship, the World Health Organization said hantavirus was “not the next COVID”; it rarely spreads between humans and it is easy to isolate when it does.
Still, one expert argued that the “fragmented international response” to the outbreak shows that the world remains unprepared to “manage health threats coherently and collectively.”