Expert reports on hantavirus risk in Cyprus following cruise ship outbreak

Cypriot health authorities have stated there is zero risk of a hantavirus outbreak on the island, noting that no cases have ever been recorded there. This assessment follows reports of three deaths and three infections linked to a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Infectious disease specialist Costas Konstantinou confirmed that no Cypriot citizens were among the passengers on the affected vessel. Medical experts explain that hantavirus typically spreads through contact with rodent secretions rather than human-to-human transmission. The virus presents in two clinical forms: Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), found mainly in the Americas with a 30-40% mortality rate, and Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome (HFRS), common in Europe with a 1-10% mortality rate. Professor Petros Karayiannis noted that the virus was first isolated in 1972 in South Korea near the Hantan River. Experts emphasized that infection on the cruise ship likely resulted from common exposure to contaminated food or rodent secretions rather than direct person-to-person contact. No special control measures are planned for Cyprus ports or airports.