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Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, briefed media today on a cluster of hantavirus cases linked to a cruise ship, the MV Hondius.

Eight cases have been reported so far, including three deaths. Five of the 8 cases have been confirmed as hantavirus.

The hantavirus involved is the Andes virus, the only species known to be capable of limited transmission between humans, linked to close and prolonged contact.

Describing the situation, Dr Tedros said, “While this is a serious incident, WHO assesses the public health risk as low.” He noted that given the incubation period, “it’s possible that more cases may be reported.”

WHO is coordinating closely with multiple countries under the International Health Regulations or IHR, rules that define the rights and obligations of countries and WHO in responding to public health events. This event demonstrates why the IHR exist, demonstrating the importance of global cooperation and solidarity in responding to health threats that know no borders.

“Our priorities are to ensure the affected patients receive care, that the remaining passengers on the ship are kept safe and treated with dignity, and to prevent any further spread of the virus,” Dr Tedros said.

WHO has taken a number of actions since it was notified of the situation on Saturday, 2 May 2026. The latest of these include deploying an expert on board the ship, to support a comprehensive medical assessment of all passengers and crew, while gathering critical information to evaluate their risk of infection.

WHO has arranged for the shipment of 2500 diagnostic kits from Argentina to laboratories in five countries to strengthen testing capacity. The Organization is also developing step-by-step operational guidance for the safe and respectful disembarkation and onward travel of passengers and crew when they arrive.

Watch the full press conference

 

Despite advancements in detection and treatment, a new report reveals severe shortfalls in reaching the indicators for the Sustainable Development Goal target for HIV, tuberculosis, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) by 2030. More action remains necessary to prevent thousands of annual deaths and slow the rising number of STI diagnoses across Europe.

As of 6 May 2026, seven cases have been reported in a hantavirus-associated cluster of illness on a cruise ship, including three deaths, one critically ill, two symptomatic and one with unknown status.

ECDC has deployed an expert from the EU Health Task Force to the cruise ship affected by the Andes hantavirus outbreak, as part of a joint effort to investigate the outbreak and coordinate the public health response together with relevant Member States.

ECDC is launching episomer, a customisable tool designed to support epidemic intelligence activities through the monitoring of social media data.

Hantavirus infection has been laboratory-confirmed in two individuals in connection with the cluster of illness reported on a cruise ship.

Hantavirus infection has been laboratory-confirmed in two individuals in connection with the cluster of illness reported on a cruise ship.

ECDC, through the EU Health Task Force, supported a two-day after-action review in Slovakia to analyse response efforts to a large multi-country outbreak of hepatitis A virus and to strengthen preparedness for future events.

Marking WHHD, ECDC is publishing proposed guidance for IPC programmes in healthcare facilities and introducing hyFive, a digital tool to support hand hygiene monitoring and data-driven implementation.

A cluster of severe acute respiratory illness, including three deaths and one severely ill individual, has been reported among passengers on a cruise ship travelling in the Atlantic and registered in the Netherlands. The ship is currently located off the coast of Cabo Verde, with 149 people on board.

ECDC is aware of suspected cases of hantavirus infection, including three deaths, associated with a cruise ship travelling in the Atlantic.

Ten years ago, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2286 on health care in armed conflicts. The situation is even worse compared to 10 years ago. Today, we mark not an achievement – we mark a failure. As violence affecting medical facilities, transport and personnel continues unabated, the harm this resolution sought to prevent has not diminished. It has continued and, in many contexts, intensified. As the heads of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), we join others in the international community in issuing an urgent call for action.

Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) have progressed work on the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) annex, a key part of the WHO Pandemic Agreement, and today agreed additional time was needed to finalize the framework for ensuring a better, more equitable, response to future pandemics.

Countries today ended the resumed session of the sixth meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) on the WHO Pandemic Agreement in Geneva, focused on the PABS system. The outcome of this work will be presented to the Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly (WHA) later this month. Given the need for further negotiations, the Assembly will be asked to consider continuing IGWG’s work as mandated in Resolution WHA78.1 and submit the outcome to the next Assembly in May 2027, or earlier by a special session of WHA in 2026.

“Real progress was made on the PABS annex and I am confident through continued negotiations differences will be overcome,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “Member States should continue approaching the outstanding issues with a sense of urgency because the next pandemic is a matter of when, not if. The PABS annex is the last piece of the puzzle not only for the Pandemic Agreement but all initiatives that WHO and Member States have implemented as a result of lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The PABS system is intended to ensure, on equal footing, the rapid sharing of pathogens with pandemic potential and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their use, such as vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics. Finalizing the PABS Annex is necessary so countries can proceed with signature and ratification of the Pandemic Agreement.

“Finalizing a document of such technical and legal complexity requires precision and dedication, both of which the Member States have demonstrated in full,” said IGWG Bureau Co-Chair Ambassador Tovar da Silva Nunes of Brazil. “We are not there yet, but with an extension of our negotiations, we will get there.”

IGWG Co-Chair Mr Matthew Harpur said: “WHO Member States have demonstrated strong and continuing commitment to negotiations on a Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing system annex. The IGWG Bureau is confident we are moving in the right direction to finalize the PABS annex, and in doing so provide the WHO Pandemic Agreement with the framework needed to ensure countries are better, and more equitably, prepared and protected for the next pandemic.”

The IGWG will hold its seventh meeting from 6 to 17 July 2026.

In May 2025, the World Health Assembly adopted the WHO Pandemic Agreement to strengthen how countries prevent, prepare for, and respond to pandemics. It also established an open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) to carry out key tasks, including drafting and negotiating the PABS system.  

 

The new monthly surveillance report from the European Centre of Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) provides updated data on mpox in Europe and shows that clade I transmission is still ongoing in several EU/EEA countries.

ECDC presented its new open-source event-based surveillance platform, Epi+, at Luxembourg’s PHRESH General Assembly, highlighting how the tool will strengthen national coordination, data sharing and early detection of health threats.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has validated Australia for eliminating trachoma as a public health problem, marking a significant milestone in the health of indigenous peoples and in global efforts to combat neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Trachoma, the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness, no longer represents a public health problem in the country.