hantavirus

May 26 (UPI) — A Spanish national who was aboard the hantavirus-hit cruise ship has tested positive for the virus, Spanish health officials said, apparently increasing the number of confirmed and probable cases linked to the outbreak to 13.

The unidentified patient was among the 14 Spanish nationals who disembarked from the vessel in Tenerife, Canary Islands, on the morning of May 10, after the hantavirus cluster was identified earlier that month. Three of the cases have died.

Spain’s Ministry of Health said the patient was confirmed positive while in preventive quarantine at Gomez Ulla Hospital in Madrid, where the individual has been under clinical surveillance and isolation since disembarking from the vessel.

“The positive case was detected during the periodic diagnostic checks carried out on the contacts under follow-up,” the ministry said in a social media statement.

The patient has since been transferred to the High-level Isolation Unit at Gomez Ulla, where they will be under what the ministry said was “specialized medical supervision” and provided with biosafety measures.

“Health authorities stress that the case was detected within the isolation and control system already in place, and therefore does not change the risk situation for the general population or alter the ongoing epidemiological response measures,” health officials said.

The new case was announced a day after World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the cruise-linked outbreak had 12 cases.

The ship with about 150 passengers and crew from nearly two dozen nations on board were forced to dock in the Canary Islands earlier this month due to the hantavirus outbreak that at that time was responsible for two deaths and eight cases, six confirmed and two probable.

Among those who disembarked were the 14 Spanish nationals, including 13 passengers and one crew member, who remain at Gomez Ulla Hospital.

With the announcement Monday, two Spanish nationals have tested positive since disembarking from the vessel, with the first positive case being made public by the ministry on May 11.

On Friday, the ministry said that those under monitoring who have been asymptomatic and tested negative for the virus during the first 28 days from the time they were admitted could complete their mandatory 42 days of monitoring at home. The 28-day hospital quarantine is to end around June 7.

Spain’s health minister, Monica Garcia, told reporters on Friday that all 14 Spaniards in quarantine were “doing well.”

“Even the one who had symptoms has begun to be asymptomatic,” she said.

“They have now been able to leave their rooms and share the common areas.”

On Sunday, Ghebreyesus said the cruise-linked hantavirus outbreak was “stable for now.”

WHO chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, urged all countries to monitor passengers who were on the MV Hondius cruise ship.

The World Health Organization has urged countries to continue monitoring passengers for hantavirus after a case was detected among a Dutch crew member of the ship at the centre of the outbreak.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO chief, told a news conference in Geneva on Friday that he urges all countries to monitor the passengers who were on board the MV Hondius cruise ship and “move carefully for the remainder of the quarantine period”.

Tedros said a Dutch crew member had tested positive and was now in isolation, taking the total positive cases to 12.

So far, three people have died due to the virus.

Tedros reiterated that no deaths have been reported since May 2, when the outbreak was first reported to the WHO.

“More than 600 contacts continue to be followed in 30 countries, and a small number of high-risk contacts are still being located,” he added.

Dutch authorities also confirmed that the infected crew member had been taken to hospital.

“The Andes virus has been detected in one person who was in quarantine in the Netherlands. The patient has since been admitted to the hospital as a precaution and is in isolation,” said the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM).

“The RIVM understands that this news may raise questions or concerns. However, the chance of further spread in the Netherlands remains very small,” the statement said.

According to the RIVM, everyone who had evacuated from the Dutch-flagged ship to the Netherlands is tested every week, and two separate laboratories confirmed the positive test.

It added that the person who had tested positive had been isolating at home.

The initial cruise ship had departed on April 1 from Ushuaia, Argentina, before heading to Cape Verde and then Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands.

While the WHO is investigating how the virus got on board the ship, it is believed that the first person to contract it could have been exposed to rodents during a bird-watching expedition.

While rodents spread hantavirus, the Andes strain is the only known strain capable of spreading from human to human.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that an Ebola outbreak in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a “public health emergency of international concern”, setting off alarm bells around the world.

The WHO’s announcement on Sunday came as several countries are battling to contain a hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship trip to South America.

While the cause and treatment for the two viruses differ, news of their outbreaks has caused world leaders and health agencies to question what this means for international travel and cross-border coordination in containing them. These questions are particularly pertinent following the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in global lockdowns due to the lack of preparedness for the spread of the coronavirus.

But as the WHO faces a funding crisis, is the world better prepared now if another pandemic occurs – or could it be even less so?

Here’s what we know:

Why is the WHO facing a funding crisis?

Every time a health emergency occurs anywhere in the world, the first response of the WHO is to determine the danger the disease poses and then implement a plan to respond to it.

But since 2025, the United Nations health agency has been struggling financially due to a lack of funding from donors.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned in May 2025 that global health would be at serious risk without enough donor support and that the agency was facing “the greatest disruption to global health financing in memory”.

The crisis deepened after the United States, which had previously covered nearly one-fifth of the WHO’s budget, officially withdrew from the organisation in January this year. US President Donald Trump announced the decision in January 2025, alleging the WHO had mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic and other international health crises.

As a result, the programme budget for the agency’s 2026-27 projects has been set at more than $6.2bn, a 9 percent decrease from the previous year.

In response, the WHO revised its financial plans and scaled back spending by cutting back some of its critical programmes, which has significantly curtailed pandemic preparedness, health experts told Al Jazeera.

“Funding cuts to the WHO have directly weakened disease surveillance efforts, which in turn affect the readiness and preparedness to deliver an effective response to epidemics and pandemics,” Kaja Abbas, associate professor of infectious disease epidemiology and dynamics at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Nagasaki University, said.

Following the recent hantavirus outbreak, passengers and crew members from more than 20 countries on the affected cruise ship, MV Hondius, required coordinated monitoring, contact tracing, medical evacuation, and public health guidance across borders.

Under the International Health Regulations (IHR), the WHO helps to facilitate communication and response efforts among countries, deploys experts, supports laboratory testing and organises emergency responses in case of an outbreak.

Following the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda, the WHO has deployed experts, personal protective equipment (PPE), laboratory support and emergency funding while coordinating regional preparedness efforts.

But these sorts of efforts are at risk with the current funding crisis, Krutika Kuppalli, an infectious diseases physician in Dallas, in the US state of Texas, with expertise in emerging pathogens, global health and outbreak response, told Al Jazeera.

As infectious diseases do not respect borders, rapid international coordination is essential, she added.

“Weakening WHO through funding cuts risks delaying outbreak detection, slowing response times, and reducing the world’s ability to contain emerging threats before they spread globally.”

In a statement to Al Jazeera, the International Pandemic Preparedness Secretariat (IPPS), an independent entity which helps world leaders prepare and respond to pandemics, highlighted that preparedness relies on consistent funding.

“Sustained investment and strong multilateral coordination are essential to maintain the systems, partnerships, and scientific capabilities needed before the next pandemic threat emerges,” IPPS said.

What else is hampering a global response to another pandemic?

Besides funding issues, the WHO has been struggling to get world leaders to agree on a pandemic treaty for 2026 amid a pathogen-sharing dispute.

In May 2025, it adopted a Pandemic Agreement, which sets out what it describes as a “comprehensive approach to pandemic prevention, preparedness and response that improves both global health security and global health equity”.

But UN member nations have not been able to reach a consensus on the Pathogen Access and ⁠Benefit-Sharing (PABS) aspect of the agreement – or “annex” – due to differences over ensuring every country receives equitable access to vaccines and treatment after data on disease samples have been shared.

Talks on PABS mainly focus on setting up a system to ensure countries can quickly share pathogens that could cause pandemics while receiving fair access to vaccines, tests and treatments that result from their use.

Following talks on PABS in May this year, the WHO chief urged countries to keep working with urgency and said the next pandemic was “a matter ⁠of when, not if”.

“The PABS annex is the last piece of the puzzle not only for the Pandemic Agreement,” he added.

Kuppalli told Al Jazeera that getting agreement on this is crucial, as international cooperation is essential during emerging outbreaks.

“Countries must rapidly share pathogen samples, genomic sequencing data, and epidemiologic information so diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics can be developed quickly,” she said.

“Delays or political disputes over information sharing can cost valuable time in the early stages of an outbreak, when containment is most possible,” she warned.

Why is antivaccine sentiment growing?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, when the US and a handful of other countries began rolling out coronavirus vaccines, many people resisted the vaccines, fearing adverse reactions as social media was flooded with misinformation about their safety and purpose.

According to a July 2025 report in The BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal), antivaccine sentiment among the leadership of US health agencies has also been on the rise. Robert F Kennedy Jr, US health secretary, is among those leaders who often promotes unverified claims about the dangers of vaccines and also opposed the COVID vaccine.

In the report for the BMJ, authors Anna Kirkland and Scott Greer argued that if health agencies are led by such people, it will “likely mean that vaccination information campaigns are reduced, vaccine hesitancy increases, insurance coverage for vaccinations is limited, and public sector capacity to vaccinate is reduced”.

“Research money will be wasted on investigating already debunked links between autism and vaccination, while vaccination infrastructure, such as vaccination programmes run by local governments, will be eroded,” they added.

This is a major issue because public trust is critical during outbreaks, Kuppalli said.

“If large portions of the population reject vaccines or public health guidance, it becomes much harder to control transmission, protect healthcare systems, and reduce deaths,” she said.

“Equally concerning are funding cuts to vaccine research and development. Pandemic preparedness depends on investing in vaccines before a crisis occurs, not after,” she added.

Last August, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) cancelled about $500 million in contracts and grants dedicated to mRNA vaccine development. These cuts affected 22 research initiatives and clinical trials focused on emerging pathogens, pandemic flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and COVID-19 boosters, according to Harvard University’s TH Chan School of Public Health.

Kuppalli said the development of mRNA vaccines targeting H5N1 avian influenza is an important effort in preparing for the possibility of a pandemic.

“Reductions in funding for these types of programmes risk slowing scientific progress, limiting manufacturing readiness, and leaving the world less prepared when the next outbreak emerges,” she said.

Is the world economically prepared for a pandemic?

Amid antivaccine movements and funding cuts, the current state of the world economy is also making it challenging for world leaders to prepare a pandemic response.

The US-Israel war on Iran has resulted in a sharp rise in oil and gas prices, which has in turn upended the world economy. High fuel costs have disrupted supply chains and international travel, resulting in a spike in the cost of medicines. In the United Kingdom, for example, pharmacies are charging 20 to 30 percent more for over-the-counter medicines. In India, chemists are reporting price rises of common painkillers of as much as 96 percent.

“Wars and economic pressures also strain supply chains, divert government resources, displace populations and weaken already fragile health systems. These all increase the risk of outbreaks spreading unchecked,” Kuppalli warned.

“Emerging infectious diseases are becoming more frequent and more complex, yet many countries are reducing investments in preparedness rather than strengthening them. The result is a growing mismatch between the scale of the threat and the resources available to respond,” she said.

IPPS told Al Jazeera that pandemics and disease outbreaks have devastating economic consequences. “In 2020 alone, the global economy contracted by around 3 percent of GDP, representing trillions of dollars in lost output, alongside widespread job losses and trade disruption.”

“Sustained investment in pandemic preparedness and response (PPR) can help prevent such losses by ensuring that vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics are ready to deploy rapidly when new threats emerge,” IPPS said.

Investing in research and development during peacetime ensures that when the next pandemic threat arises, the world has products and systems in place to respond quickly, protect lives, and avoid the economic losses experienced during COVID-19, it added.

“Sustained and diversified funding for pandemic preparedness is not just a health priority; it is also an economic safeguard.”

Has there been any progress at all since COVID-19?

“The pandemic taught all of us many lessons, especially that global threats demand a global response,” Ghebreyesus said in February, six years after the COVID-19 pandemic hit. “Solidarity is the best immunity,” he added.

Besides adopting a Pandemic Agreement last May, in 2022, the WHO launched a fund in collaboration with the World Bank. As of February this year, the fund has “provided grant funding” totalling more than $1.2bn, the WHO says. It has “helped catalyse an additional $11bn that has so far supported 67 projects in 98 countries across six regions, to expand surveillance, lab networks, workforce training and multi sectoral coordination”, it adds.

In 2023, the WHO also set up the Global Health Emergency Corps “in response to the gaps and challenges identified during the COVID-19 response”. The Corps mainly supports countries experiencing public health emergencies “by assessing emergency workforce capacities, rapidly deploying surge support, and creating a network of emergency leaders from multiple countries to share best practices and coordinate responses”.

As a result of all this, Kuppalli said, there are reasons to be hopeful.

“One of the clearest lessons from recent outbreaks is that the global scientific and public health community can collaborate remarkably quickly when faced with an urgent threat,” she said.

She noted how during COVID-19, scientists around the world rapidly shared genomic sequences, clinical data and research findings in real time.

“The development of highly effective COVID-19 vaccines in less than a year was a historic scientific achievement and demonstrated what is possible when there is political will, funding, international cooperation, and regulatory flexibility,” she said.

“In addition, advances in vaccine platforms, particularly mRNA technology, mean we now have the capability to design and begin producing candidate vaccines much faster than in the past,” she explained.

“While many challenges remain, including funding, misinformation, and geopolitical tensions, the scientific progress made over the last several years has unquestionably improved our ability to detect emerging threats and develop medical countermeasures more rapidly than ever before,” she added.

May 15 (UPI) — The World Health Organization said Friday there have been 10 hantavirus cases reported from the MV Hondius cruise ship and three people have died.

The WHO held a press conference to share an update on the hantavirus outbreak Friday, days after passengers of the cruise ship disembarked to return to their home countries under quarantine. It previously reported 11 cases but that number was revised down to 10.

One American who recently had an inconclusive test has tested negative, said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, director of the WHO’s Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Management.

“As of today a total of 10 cases, including three deaths, have been reported to WHO, including eight people who were laboratory confirmed for Andes virus infection and two probable,” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, said during Friday’s press conference.

Forty-one people are being monitored for the hantavirus in the United States. Most U.S. passengers were transported from the ship to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where they were being monitored in a specially designed medical facility.

Stephen Kornfeld is the only American to test positive for hantavirus. He had flu-like symptoms while aboard the cruise ship and was admitted to the facility in Nebraska. He has since tested negative and has been moved into the facility’s quarantine unit.

“I physically feel great. I have felt great for many, many days,” he told ABC News.

On Thursday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention held a press briefing on its response to the hantavirus. Dr. David Fitter, incident manager for CDC’s hantavirus response, said the risk to the general public is “low.”

“Testing is recommended only for those with symptoms, and decisions are guided by the best available evidence,” Fitter said.

Fitter said the monitoring period for the U.S. passengers is 42 days. He noted that there were passengers who left the ship and returned home before the outbreak and they have been identified.

“Some of these people are at home monitoring their health in close coordination with their state and local health departments, with CDC supporting those efforts,” Fitter said.