SANTIAGO, May 8 — Two cruise ship passengers who died of hantavirus were not infected in Chile when they traveled through the country, the Chilean health ministry said yesterday.
A hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship has triggered a global health scare after three passengers died of the rare respiratory disease.
Two of the victims, a Dutch married couple, arrived in Argentina on November 27, 2025, then traveled to Chile and Uruguay before returning to Argentina on March 27 this year to board the ship on April 1, according to Argentine officials.
The pair entered Chile on January 7.
They traveled around “during a period that does not correspond to the incubation time, so exposure to the virus would not have occurred in our country,” the Chilean health ministry said in a statement.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the incubation period for hantavirus can be up to six weeks.
The United Nations agency yesterday reported five confirmed hantavirus cases and three suspected cases.
The disease is usually spread from infected rodents, typically through urine, droppings and saliva.
The Andes virus is found in South America, and is the only strain of hantavirus with documented human-to-human transmission.
Chilean authorities said the last infection with this strain in the country occurred in 2019. — AFP
