Related videos:
Miguel Díaz-Canel chaired a meeting of experts and scientists on health issues focused on hantavirus this Tuesday at the Palace of Conventions in Havana, while Cuban health authorities activated surveillance protocols in response to the potential entry of the dangerous disease into the country.
The trigger for the alert is the hantavirus outbreak registered aboard the MV Hondius cruise, which departed from Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1 with 88 passengers and 59 crew members from 23 nationalities.
The World Health Organization (WHO) was notified on May 2 about a group of passengers with severe respiratory illness on board. On May 6, it was confirmed that the causative agent was the Andes virus, and by May 12, the tally was nine laboratory-confirmed cases, two probable cases, and three fatalities: a Dutch couple and a German woman.
The outbreak has already spread to: the Netherlands, Spain, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and the United States, turning the event into a global health alert.
The Deputy Minister of Public Health, Dra. Carilda Peña García, made statements to the press following the meeting and emphasized that Cuba has no cases or history of hantavirus outbreaks, and that the 14 species of rodents present on the island do not include reservoirs of the virus.
However, he warned that the long incubation period—up to eight weeks—represents a real risk.
"The individuals who may be carrying the disease can arrive in the country. That’s why I emphasize the epidemiological surveillance at the Cuban borders."
The authorities have activated inspections at ports, airports, and marinas to detect the presence of rodents in aircraft and ships, following international health control protocols.
The Andes strain is the only one with documented person-to-person transmission, although it is limited to close and prolonged contacts. Its mortality rate in cases of cardiopulmonary syndrome can reach between 35% and 50%, and there is no approved vaccine or specific antiviral.
Cuban authorities explicitly invoked the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic as a frame of reference.
"We have the lessons from COVID in the country, which is a disease that is also transmitted through respiratory pathways," stated Dr. Peña García, who recommended the use of face masks in the case of acute respiratory infections.
That comparison with COVID is not coincidental in a country that still bears the scars of that crisis.
In 2025, Cuba faced uncontrolled outbreaks of dengue, chikungunya, and H1N1 influenza amidst a chronic shortage of medical supplies, raising questions about the actual capacity of the healthcare system to respond to a new threat.
The WHO, for its part, dismissed a pandemic scenario.
"This is not another COVID-19. The current public health risk posed by hantavirus is low," stated Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in an open letter to the residents of Tenerife on May ninth.
Dr. Peña García concluded her statements with a message directed at the Cuban population: "This is a situation that the public should be aware of, not to incite alarm, but to be informed and, above all, for individual protection."
Filed under: