The virus has an incubation period—you can be infected and not show it yet.
Two Singaporean men who traveled aboard the MV Hondius and later shared a flight with a passenger who died of Andes hantavirus have tested negative for infection — a cautious relief in a story that reminds us how invisibly the threads of human movement can carry mortal risk across oceans. The Andes virus, uniquely capable of passing between people and carrying a fatality rate as high as fifty percent, has drawn health authorities across twelve nations into a quiet, coordinated vigil. Though their test results offer reassurance, both men remain in quarantine, held in the uncertain interval between a negative result and the end of an incubation window that has not yet closed.
- A woman who boarded the same flight as the two Singaporeans later died of Andes hantavirus — the only hantavirus strain known to spread directly between humans — making their exposure a matter of serious concern.
- Both men tested negative, but the Andes virus's 30–50% fatality rate and its incubation period mean a single result cannot yet be treated as a full clearance.
- Authorities have placed both residents under 30-day quarantine and a 45-day total monitoring period, navigating the tension between public reassurance and epidemiological caution.
- The WHO has warned that additional cases may still surface among the 88 passengers on that Johannesburg flight, as nationals from 12 countries disembarked at Saint Helena before the outbreak was even identified.
- Infectious disease experts are urging the public to continue normal life, noting that even in documented human-to-human cases, transmission required contact with symptomatic individuals — not casual proximity.
Two Singaporean men — aged 67 and 65 — have tested negative for hantavirus infection after being identified as potential contacts of a passenger who died from the Andes virus aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship. Singapore's Communicable Diseases Agency announced the results on May 8, though both men remain isolated at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases as a precaution.
Neither man was still aboard the ship when the outbreak was detected. Both disembarked at Saint Helena Island on April 24, before any illness had been identified. The critical exposure came later: on a flight from Johannesburg carrying 88 passengers, they traveled alongside a woman who would subsequently die of confirmed Andes hantavirus infection. She, too, had left the ship at Saint Helena.
The MV Hondius had departed the Argentine port of Ushuaia on April 1 on what appeared to be a sub-Antarctic expedition. When thirty passengers disembarked at Saint Helena, the WHO began notifying health authorities in all twelve countries whose nationals had been aboard. The ship's operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, is still working to account for all passengers, and the possibility of other unidentified Singaporeans having been on board has not been ruled out.
What makes the Andes virus particularly alarming is its singular capacity for human-to-human transmission — a trait no other hantavirus strain shares. While Asian and European hantavirus variants carry fatality rates of under 15 percent, the Andes strain kills between 30 and 50 percent of those it infects. Symptoms begin with fever, fatigue, and body aches before potentially collapsing into shock.
Professor Hsu Li Yang of the National University of Singapore reassured the public that the broader population faces no meaningful risk, noting that even in documented transmission events, infection required close contact with someone already showing symptoms. The two men will be tested again before their quarantine ends and monitored by phone through a 45-day surveillance window. The WHO has cautioned that further cases may yet emerge. For now, the men wait — their negative results a reprieve, but the clock still running.
Two Singaporean residents who sailed aboard the MV Hondius have tested negative for hantavirus infection, the Communicable Diseases Agency announced on Friday, May 8. The men—aged 67 and 65—had been isolated at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases while authorities waited for results. The news brought relief, but not freedom. Both will spend the next 30 days in quarantine, a precautionary measure that reflects the particular danger of what they may have been exposed to: the Andes virus, a strain of hantavirus with a fatality rate between 30 and 50 percent.
The two men left the ship at Saint Helena Island on April 24, before any outbreak had been detected. The 67-year-old returned to Singapore on May 2; the 65-year-old arrived on May 6. What made their exposure significant was not their time aboard the vessel itself, but what happened next. Both were passengers on a flight from Johannesburg that carried 88 people total. On that same flight was a woman who would later die of hantavirus infection—confirmed to have been infected with the Andes virus. She had also disembarked at Saint Helena before the outbreak became apparent.
The MV Hondius left the Argentine port of Ushuaia on April 1, carrying passengers on what appears to have been an Antarctic or sub-Antarctic expedition cruise. Thirty passengers got off at Saint Helena on April 24. The World Health Organization identified that nationals from 12 countries had disembarked there and began notifying health authorities in each nation, including Singapore. The ship's operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, has been working to confirm the details of all passengers and crew who boarded and left at various stops since March 20, though the company acknowledged that some passengers' nationalities remain unknown, leaving open the possibility of other Singaporeans having been aboard.
The Andes virus stands apart from other hantavirus strains in a crucial way: it is the only species known to spread directly from human to human. Other hantaviruses typically infect people through contact with infected rodent saliva, urine, or droppings. The Andes variant, which circulates in parts of South America, carries a much higher mortality rate than its Asian or European cousins, where fatality rates range from less than 1 percent to 15 percent. Symptoms begin with fever, body aches, fatigue, and gastrointestinal distress, but the illness can deteriorate rapidly into shock and death.
Singapore is not unfamiliar with hantavirus. The country has reported a handful of cases since the 1970s. In 2022, a Malaysian man who traveled between Singapore and Ipoh contracted the virus, likely through drinking cow urine contaminated with rodent droppings—a practice tied to his religious and cultural beliefs. But the hantavirus species circulating in Asia differ from those found in the Americas. The Andes virus has not been detected in Asian rodent populations, which means the virus itself poses no endemic threat to the region.
Professor Hsu Li Yang, director of the Asia Centre for Health Security and an infectious diseases expert at the National University of Singapore, emphasized that the broader population faces virtually no risk. "We should lead our lives normally," he said. Even in documented human-to-human transmission cases, such as an outbreak in Argentina in 2018, infection occurred only through contact with symptomatic individuals, not asymptomatic carriers. The two Singaporean residents will be tested again before their quarantine ends and then monitored by phone for the remainder of a 45-day surveillance period. The WHO has warned that additional cases may yet emerge, given the virus's incubation window. For now, the two men wait in isolation, their negative test results a reprieve but not yet a release.
Notable Quotes
We should lead our lives normally— Professor Hsu Li Yang, director of the Asia Centre for Health Security
It is possible that more cases may be reported, given the incubation period of the Andes virus— WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does it matter that these two men tested negative if they're still locked away for a month?
Because negative doesn't mean safe. The virus has an incubation period—you can be infected and not show it yet. The 30 days is the window where most people would develop symptoms. They're negative today, but they could become positive tomorrow.
And the woman on the flight—she was sick when they flew together?
That's the terrifying part. She was on the same flight. She later died. We don't know if she was symptomatic during the flight or if she was in that window where the virus was already in her body but invisible.
So these two men could have been exposed to her breath, her saliva?
Exactly. The Andes virus is the only hantavirus that spreads human to human. Most hantaviruses come from rodent contact. This one travels between people. That's what makes it different—and deadlier.
How deadly are we talking?
30 to 50 percent fatality rate. Compare that to the hantaviruses in Asia, which kill less than 1 to 15 percent of infected people. The Andes strain is one of the most lethal viral infections we know.
But the expert said there's virtually no risk to Singapore's population?
Right. The virus doesn't exist in Asian rodents. It's a South American problem that hitched a ride on a cruise ship. Once these two men are cleared, the threat ends. Unless someone else from that ship arrives sick.
And the ship's operator—do they know how many Singaporeans were actually aboard?
They're still trying to figure it out. Some passengers' nationalities were never recorded. The WHO had to tell Singapore that nationals from the ship had disembarked there. It's a gap in the system.