The hantavirus outbreak linked to the cruise ship MV Hondius is far less transmissible than Covid-19, according to a senior Dutch infectious disease specialist currently overseeing treatment of one of the infected patients.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with AFP on Thursday, Karin Ellen Veldkamp, head of infectious diseases at Leiden University Medical Centre, said there was no reason to compare the current hantavirus situation with the global coronavirus pandemic because human-to-human transmission of hantavirus is much more limited and significantly harder to sustain.
Addressing concerns that the virus could become “the next Covid,” Veldkamp firmly rejected the comparison and stressed that hantavirus does not spread easily between people under normal circumstances.
She explained that while scientists believe limited person-to-person transmission may have occurred aboard the cruise ship, the virus behaves very differently from Covid-19 and requires much closer and more prolonged contact for infection to spread.
According to the doctor, the hospital in Leiden remains fully prepared to handle additional patients if necessary and has specialised facilities designed specifically for communicable disease management.
Without revealing specific details about the patient who arrived at the hospital on Wednesday night, Veldkamp described the extensive isolation and safety measures being used to treat infected individuals safely while protecting healthcare workers and the wider public.
She explained that patients are placed inside dedicated isolation rooms and cared for by specially trained medical staff operating under strict infectious disease control protocols. Medical teams continue providing full treatment and monitoring while using protective measures designed to minimise any risk of transmission.
Veldkamp stressed that hospital staff are trained not to avoid infected patients out of fear but to handle such cases safely and professionally through proper medical procedures and protective equipment.
She further explained that patients generally remain in isolation as long as they continue showing symptoms associated with the virus. Once their condition improves, additional medical testing is carried out. If the patient tests negative for the virus, isolation restrictions can then be lifted.
According to Veldkamp, doctors still do not know precisely how long a patient may continue carrying the virus after symptoms improve. However, medical teams currently operate under the assumption that once recovery begins and symptoms disappear, the patient is unlikely to remain contagious.
The specialist also noted that hospitals in the Netherlands are accustomed to handling serious infectious diseases and possess the necessary infrastructure and expertise to manage additional cases if required.
She added that several medical centres across the country are capable of treating similar infections, allowing healthcare authorities to distribute patients between hospitals if the outbreak expands further.
The outbreak aboard the MV Hondius has already attracted global attention after multiple passengers reportedly became infected during the expedition voyage. At least three deaths and several confirmed infections have been linked to the cruise ship so far, prompting monitoring efforts by the World Health Organization and public health authorities across several countries.
Despite the concern surrounding the outbreak, experts continue to stress that the overall public health risk remains low because hantavirus generally spreads through exposure to infected rodents or contaminated environments rather than through widespread airborne human transmission like Covid-19.
Health authorities are nevertheless continuing to monitor passengers, crew members and international contacts connected to the voyage because the virus can have a long incubation period, sometimes extending for several weeks before symptoms appear.
The comments from Dutch medical experts are therefore aimed at reassuring the public that while hantavirus can be extremely serious for infected individuals, the outbreak aboard the MV Hondius does not currently resemble the type of rapidly spreading global pandemic seen during the Covid crisis.
