The Centre for Emerging Viral Diseases of the Geneva University Hospital, HUG, a World Health Organisation, WHO collaborating centre, has identified the strain of hantavirus that caused three deaths on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
The strain has been described as Andes.
A statement by HUG said the identification was made possible by a sample taken from a person who had been on the MV Hondius and who tested positive for hantavirus by PCR at the Centre national de référence pour les infections virales émergentes CRIVE, virology laboratory of HUG, on 5 May 2026.
Dr Manuel Schibler, Head of the HUG virology laboratory, said the research found that the Andes virus is the only hantavirus for which human-to-human transmission has been documented.
He said the crucial information has already been communicated to the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) and the WHO.