oceanwide-expeditions.com
Statement from Rémi Bouysset, CEO of Oceanwide Expeditions
Oceanwide Expeditions' formal account of the three-phase response and the company's epidemiological assessment of where the virus originated.
Hantavirus Global Situational Briefing — May 22, 2026
Cluster count holds at 11 (9 confirmed, 2 probable; 3 deaths) as Rotterdam decontamination enters Day 5 and RIVM inspection remains pending. Oxford/ISARIC activates the outbreak's first standardised clinical study. Angela Perryman escalates her CDC quarantine legal challenge. Oceanwide CEO confirms June 13 restart is contingent on completing all protocols. Argentina's Malbrán samples head to Buenos Aires — results in up to a month. A Pacific Northwest rodent study finds Sin Nombre in ~30% of sampled animals.
Five days have passed since the last confirmed case in the MV Hondius cluster. The cluster count remains at 11 cases (9 confirmed, 2 probable; 3 deaths) per ECDC's May 20 revision — now Day 5 of EWS Group's decontamination of the vessel in Rotterdam, with RIVM's post-decontamination inspection pending. In parallel, a new front opened in the scientific response: UK universities and the UKHSA formally activated an ISARIC clinical characterisation study on May 21, the most structured research mobilisation yet linked to this outbreak. Meanwhile, the US quarantine legal challenge escalated, Oceanwide issued its most candid statement yet on the outbreak's origins, and a Pacific Northwest rodent surveillance study released findings showing Sin Nombre virus more prevalent in regional deer mice than previously estimated.
Cluster status: Rotterdam, Day 5
As of May 22, the ECDC official count remains 11 — 9 confirmed, 2 probable, 3 deaths — with no new cases reported since May 17 1. The ECDC's Week 21 Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR), expected this week, had not yet appeared in the public catalogue at the time of this briefing.
Aboard MV Hondius, the decontamination operation run by EWS Group entered its fifth day at Rotterdam's Calandsteiger 7. Personnel composition aboard: 25 skeletal crew and 2 RIVM embedded medical officers. Two Dutch crew members remain under home quarantine. The 38 Filipino crew members, who tested PCR-negative, continue their 42-day precautionary quarantine at a Dutch shoreside facility 2.
RIVM's formal post-decontamination inspection — the gateway to Oceanwide's June 13 Arctic restart — has not yet been publicly announced. The outcome of that inspection will determine whether the vessel can be declared fit for passenger operations.
In a statement dated May 19 from Vlissingen, Oceanwide CEO Rémi Bouysset described the outbreak's three operational phases and said the company's epidemiological picture "strongly suggests" the virus was introduced before embarkation and "did not originate from the vessel itself" 3. He cited WHO guidance and RIVM in support of this framing while noting that "investigations remain ongoing regarding the exact location where the virus may have been contracted." Regular pest-control and biosecurity checks performed during the April 1 voyage showed "no evidence of rodents or pests being present throughout," Bouysset said. The statement notably confirmed that the Arctic season continuation on June 13 is a current operational target, not a firm date, contingent on completing "every step properly and responsibly."
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Patient updates: France, Spain, Switzerland
The French patient — a 65-year-old woman — remains on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) at Hôpital Bichat AP-HP in Paris. No change in clinical status has been reported since May 12, when her physician described the support as "final-stage" 4. Her 26 tracked contacts in France have all returned PCR-negative results.
Spain's confirmed patient — the 70-year-old first case admitted to Gómez Ulla Central Defence Hospital in Madrid — continues to approach discharge. A second Spanish evacuee who showed a provisional positive on rapid testing earlier this week has not yet been confirmed by confirmatory PCR and does not appear in the ECDC's official total 5. The 13 other Spanish passengers screened at Gómez Ulla have consistently returned negative results.
Switzerland's Patient 7 remains hospitalised with no public update on clinical progress as of this briefing.
Oxford/ISARIC study launched — the outbreak's first standardised clinical research mobilisation
On May 21, the Pandemic Sciences Institute at the University of Oxford, alongside the universities of Liverpool, Edinburgh, and Glasgow and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), formally activated a clinical study on Andes hantavirus using the ISARIC Clinical Characterisation Protocol (CCP) 6.
The CCP is a pre-approved adaptive framework that ISARIC has deployed during Ebola, Lassa fever, COVID-19, severe hepatitis in children, and mpox. By activating it now, the consortium can begin standardised data and sample collection immediately from UK-repatriated passengers who consented to participate. Samples will be characterised at UKHSA's Rare and Imported Pathogens Laboratory and the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research under high-containment conditions.
The study's stated objectives cover four areas:
- Clinical features and disease progression in confirmed and exposed individuals
- Transmission dynamics, specifically evidence for human-to-human spread in this cluster
- Serological profiling to define infection extent beyond PCR-confirmed cases
- Risk factors for severe outcomes, to inform clinical management
"Our ability to respond quickly is the result of years of preparation," said Professor Sir Peter Horby (ISARIC Executive Director, Oxford). Professor Emma Thomson of the Glasgow CVR noted that the CVR will coordinate sample distribution to participating laboratories internationally, linking to the WHO's global research harmonisation effort.
The study adds a structured prospective dimension to the genomic work already published — the Virological.org molecular analysis confirming that sequences from cluster patients share near-identical genomes (≤1 SNP across all cases), consistent with a single zoonotic introduction event before the April 1 departure from Ushuaia 7.
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US quarantine challenge: Perryman escalates legal threat
The federal quarantine dispute entered a new phase. Angela Perryman, one of two passengers under CDC quarantine orders at the National Quarantine Unit (NQU) in Omaha, Nebraska, told NPR on May 21 that she plans to challenge her confinement through legal action 8.
Perryman had been told her participation was voluntary until May 18, when she received a federally signed quarantine order instructing her to remain through May 31. The order was signed under CDC authority by Director Jay Bhattacharya. She has tested negative on both PCR and antibody (IgM and IgG) panels. Her position is that the order is internally inconsistent — it acknowledges she meets criteria for optional home-based management but does not permit it.
Public health law experts cited in the report were divided. Those supporting the CDC's authority pointed to the documented human-to-human transmission risk of Andes virus and the precautionary window. Those questioning it argued that detaining someone who has tested negative on multiple validated assays, and who has agreed to alternative home monitoring, creates a due-process issue likely to survive a court challenge.
CDC is monitoring approximately 41 people across 12 states (AZ, CA, GA, KS, MD, MN, NE, NJ, TX, UT, VA, WA) under the 42-day surveillance window ending June 22. Zero confirmed US cases from the MV Hondius cluster remain recorded.
Argentina: rodent field samples collected, lab analysis to take up to a month
Argentine researchers from the Malbrán Institute completed three days of field trapping around Ushuaia's forests, collecting specimens from 150 box traps placed across the area 9. Scientists in protective gear dropped dead rodents into sealed bags for transport to the institute's Buenos Aires laboratory, where PCR testing for Andes virus will begin.
Results are not expected for up to a month. The significance of the test is significant regardless of outcome: Tierra del Fuego has not reported a locally acquired hantavirus case since mandatory reporting began in 1996, and the province has not historically been considered an endemic ANDV zone. A positive rodent result would not definitively resolve where the ship's passengers acquired the virus — exposure could have occurred at any stop on the voyage — but it would establish whether ANDV circulates in the local reservoir and change the risk profile for future Ushuaia-departing expeditions.
Pacific Northwest Sin Nombre study: 30% seroprevalence in sampled rodents
A new surveillance study published in Emerging Infectious Diseases (CDC) on May 21 found that nearly 30% of rodents trapped in Whitman County (Washington State), Latah County, and Benewah County (Idaho) showed serological evidence of past Sin Nombre virus infection, with approximately 10% carrying active infection 10.
Researchers at Washington State University's College of Veterinary Medicine trapped 189 animals — deer mice, voles, and chipmunks — across farms and natural areas in the Palouse region during summer 2023. The study produced the first full genome sequences of Sin Nombre strains from that area, revealing high genetic diversity and evidence of viral reassortment among circulating strains.
The finding contextualises but does not directly alter the Hondius outbreak picture. Sin Nombre is not Andes virus: it does not spread person-to-person, causes hantavirus pulmonary syndrome via rodent fomite inhalation, and has a 36% case-fatality rate across 864 US cases recorded from 1993 to 2022. However, the study's documentation of unexpectedly high prevalence in an area already reporting the 2026 Washington State Sin Nombre case (Chelan County) and a fatal Colorado case earlier this month reinforces the utility of year-round rodent reservoir surveillance as an early-warning mechanism.
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UK HAIRS risk assessment: Syrian hamsters flagged, UK rodent risk very low
The UK's Human Animal Infections and Risk Surveillance (HAIRS) group published an assessment on May 13 evaluating the likelihood of ANDV establishing in UK rodent populations 11. The headline finding: the risk of ANDV causing human infection via a UK rodent is assessed as very low.
The assessment's reasoning: ANDV's natural reservoir (long-tailed pygmy rice rat) does not exist in the UK, and experimental evidence suggests limited replication of human-source ANDV strains in animal models. Confirmed ANDV cases in the UK are being managed in High Consequence Infectious Disease (HCID) units with A-category waste disposal — reducing the probability of viral material reaching the sewage or environmental chain where UK rodents could be exposed.
One specific recommendation emerged from the assessment: Syrian hamsters — common pets in the UK — are known to be susceptible to ANDV and have been used as experimental HCPS models. Any household where a close contact of a confirmed ANDV case is quarantining should house hamsters and other pet rodents in closed cages with minimal human contact. Gloves and masks are recommended for anyone interacting with the animals during the quarantine period.
Endemic Americas: baseline activity
Argentina's national bulletin (BEN SE18) records 102 cases and 32 deaths for the 2025–2026 season. The Malbrán SE19 update is expected around May 26 2. Chile holds at 41 cases and 14 deaths (34% CFR). Bolivia's four Andes-strain cases near the Argentine border, reported in the May 18–19 window, have not had further public updates.
What to watch May 22–25
| Indicator | Status | Expected |
|---|---|---|
| RIVM post-decon inspection result | Pending | Imminent (determines June 13 Hondius restart) |
| ECDC CDTR Week 21 | Not yet published | Expected this week |
| Spain second case confirmatory PCR | Provisional positive, unconfirmed | Days |
| France ECMO patient update | No change since May 12 | Daily monitoring |
| Argentina rodent sample results | Field collection complete | Up to 1 month |
| WHO DON next update on Hondius | Pending | Undated |
Global risk level (WHO/ECDC, as of May 20): general public risk remains low; exposed cohort risk assessed at moderate by WHO. No travel restrictions recommended.
참고 출처
- 1ECDC Andes hantavirus outbreak page
- 2Hanta Hub — Global Outbreak Tracker
- 3Oceanwide CEO statement, May 19
- 4MV Hondius hantavirus outbreak timeline
- 5HantaTracker — France contact tracing and Spain status
- 6Oxford University: Study launched for Andes hantavirus
- 7Virological.org — Molecular evolutionary analysis of MV Hondius Andes virus outbreak
- 8NPR: American passenger is angry about hantavirus quarantine order
- 9Global News: Argentines hunting for source of hantavirus outbreak
- 10NBC16: Study finds Sin Nombre more widespread in Pacific Northwest rodents
- 11UK HAIRS: Qualitative assessment of Andes virus risk to UK human population
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