Geneva, 3 July

The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared that the hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship earlier this year was over after the last identified contact of an exposed person completed quarantine and tested negative for the virus.

The outbreak on the MV Hondius infected 13 people and killed three. It involved the Andes virus, a rare hantavirus strain that typically circulates in Argentina and Chile.

"Although the outbreak is over, WHO will continue working with governments and partners to advance our understanding of this outbreak and of hantavirus more generally," WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said after the 42-day quarantine period for hantavirus exposure ended with the last identified contact.