Amid growing global attention around the hantavirus outbreak linked to the cruise ship MV Hondius, the Indian Council for Medical Research has said that at present, there is no evidence of community spread or immediate public health threat in the country.

According to Dr. Naveen Kumar, Director of ICMR's National Institute of Virology, the cases appear to be isolated ones. “The reported hantavirus cases appear to be isolated ones, and there is no immediate public health threat to India,” he was quoted by PTI. His remarks come after reports that two Indian nationals aboard a cruise ship were detected with hantavirus.

Health Ministry monitoring situation

The Union Health Ministry is also closely monitoring the evolving situation, in coordination with the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), World Health Organization (WHO), and other international health authorities, according to news reports.

Health authorities say most hantavirus infections are linked to environmental exposure rather than widespread human transmission.

Also read:Can You Test for Hantavirus at Home? Why Diagnosis Is Difficult and Complicated

Experts continue to stress that hantavirus behaves very differently from COVID-19. According to Dr Kumar, person-to-person spread is extremely uncommon. “Most hantaviruses, especially those reported in Asia and Europe, do not spread between humans. Limited human transmission has only been documented with certain South American strains such as the Andes virus,” he explained.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has also stated that the overall public health risk remains low despite ongoing monitoring of suspected infections aboard the cruise ship.

In severe cases, patients may develop breathing difficulties and Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome

The MV Hondius outbreak gained international attention because multiple suspected cases were identified among passengers travelling across countries.

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