The MV Hondius Warning: Hantavirus Surveillance Blind Spots

For years, hantavirus infections in Europe were regarded as a relatively minor public health concern, largely because the dominant strain circulating in Northern and Western Europe, the Puumala virus (PUUV), is not transmitted human-to human, and is typically associated with mild disease.1,2 This perception changed dramatically following the April 2026 outbreak aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius, which propelled hantaviruses into the global spotlight.3 The deaths of passengers infected with the South American Andes virus (ANDV)—one of the few hantaviruses known to spread between humans4,5—triggered alarm in a world still shaped by the collective memory of the COVID-19 pandemic.