Greece Says Hantavirus Epidemic Risk in Europe Remains Extremely Low

Greece’s Health Ministry has reassured the public the risk of a hantavirus epidemic spreading across Europe is very low. The virus rarely passes between humans, and the rodents that carry the deadliest strain simply don’t live on European soil.

Greece Downplays Hantavirus Epidemic Fear Across Europe

Greece’s Health Ministry has stepped forward to calm growing public anxiety. Officials there say the risk of a hantavirus epidemic taking hold in Europe is extremely low and the science backs them up.

The key reason is straightforward. Hantavirus does not spread easily from one person to another. The National Public Health Organisation of Greece known as EODY, which operates under the Health Ministry made that point clearly.

Human-to-Human Transmission Is Rare and Mostly South American

“Transmission of hantavirus from person to person has been noted rarely and mainly concerns the hantavirus strain known as Andes virus, which is endemic to South America. These cases are usually linked to close and prolonged contact and do not reflect the typical mode of hantavirus transmission in Europe,” EODY’s press service stated.

In other words what happened in South America stays largely in South America. European cases of hantavirus follow a different pattern entirely. Most infections on the continent involve a strain called Puumala. A smaller number of cases come from another strain Dobrava-Belgrade. Neither of these strains travel from person to person the way Andes virus occasionally has.

Carrier Rodents Don’t Live in Europe That’s the Key

There’s another crucial layer of protection Europe naturally has. The specific rodent species that carry the Andes virus strain the strain with the most worrying human-to-human spread potential simply do not inhabit European territory. EODY confirmed this directly. Because those rodents are absent, there is no realistic pathway for the virus to establish itself in Europe’s rodent population and from there, jump to humans.

What Sparked the Alarm: A Cruise Ship Outbreak

The concern didn’t come out of nowhere. A deadly hantavirus outbreak broke out aboard the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius a vessel traveling from Argentina to Cabo Verde. Three passengers died. On May 27, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed that the total number of hantavirus cases among passengers had climbed to 13.

That outbreak rattled public health circles across Europe. Greece’s Health Ministry moved quickly to provide context and the message was clear. Europe’s situation is fundamentally different from what unfolded on that ship sailing through South American waters.