The hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship, reported last May 2 by the World Health Organization, has caused concern around the world, perhaps because of the relatively recent global crisis unleashed by Covid-19. People associate the two types of infections, but that is not the case. There is more urban myth than reality in the supposed spread of that virus.
In response to the misinformation, which is indeed spreading exponentially, the Bogota Health Secretariat reported that it is carrying out continuous and rigorous monitoring in alliance with international agencies and with the Ministry of Health.
First of all, Julian Fernandez, deputy secretary of Public Health for the District, warned that the current outbreak occurring on the cruise ship due to hantavirus infection “is an outbreak in which the information is still being consolidated.”
No hantavirus transmission has been identified in Bogota rodents
“There is still no evidence of person-to-person transmission outside the cruise ship,” Fernandez stated in a video shared on the social network X. “The animal reservoirs that originate these infections or from which these infections derive are wild rodents.”
The official highlighted that in Bogota there are no rodents from these families or this genus. “In the species we have in Bogota, hantavirus transmission has not been identified,” he emphasized.
For that reason, he stressed that “it is very important to call for people to follow the evolution of the information with caution, but also with calm.”
“There is currently no epidemiological consideration that justifies the application of screening tests for hantavirus in travelers arriving from any nation, much less at this moment from Argentina, where there is not, for now and to date, any evidence of active transmission in that country or in other countries at the community level outside the cruise ship,” the deputy secretary added.
Rather, he explained that at this moment the measures are related to the strengthening that is always maintained of risk analysis through coordinated work with other sectors, epidemiological analysis and, above all, epidemiological surveillance.
There is no evidence of hantavirus transmission in Colombia
In other information released by the Health Secretariat, it was warned that there is currently no evidence of active and sustained hantavirus transmission in Colombia or in Bogota, and the risk for the city remains low.
The entity also recalled that hantaviruses are zoonotic viruses transmitted to people through contact with the urine, feces or saliva of infected wild rodents, especially in enclosed or poorly ventilated spaces.
The risk increases during rural, agricultural and forestry activities, and with the presence of rodent infestations in homes. In addition, although there are multiple hantavirus strains in the world, only some cause disease in humans.
In any case, the Health Secretariat recalled that symptoms usually appear between one and eight weeks after exposure and include fever, headache, muscle pain, fatigue and gastrointestinal manifestations.
Person-to-person transmission is not frequent and has only been documented globally for the Andes virus, identified mainly in Argentina and Chile.
In Colombia, the National Health Institute (INS), up to this moment, has not documented or reported cases compatible with hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome in the national public health surveillance system.
“According to the available technical evidence, the risk for Colombia, including Bogota, is considered low. In this context, the District remains attentive to the guidelines and directives issued by the Ministry of Health and Social Protection and the National Health Institute, in accordance with the International Health Regulations and WHO recommendations,” the entity concluded.