90-Second Read: Lessons from Covid-19 in the era of Hantavirus

But the alarm raised by Hantavirus transmission should be used as an opportunity to finally get the global agreement on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response back on track. T he Hantavirus outbreak discovered aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius naturally rekindled fears of a devastating pandemic. This response, the assessment of available resources and the transparency shown by health authorities in France have fortunately demonstrated that lessons were learned from the Covid-19 pandemic. The 26 contact cases identified in France (passengers from the MV Hondius and contacts of a Dutch passenger who died from the infection) tested negative as of Thursday, May 14.

This agreement was formally adopted almost a year ago, in May 2025, at the World Health Assembly, the annual meeting in Geneva of all member states of the World Health Organization (WHO). The global health infrastructure is also being undermined by Donald Trump's decision, upon returning to the White House in January 2025, to withdraw the United States from the WHO. After severe budget cuts, this administration has, according to the American press, quietly boosted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in response to the Hantavirus threat. The initial findings also gave rise to cautious optimism.

The response by French health authorities and the swift action at the European level are commendable. After the first deaths were recorded, and following a period during which potentially exposed passengers returned to their countries during port calls without being screened, the virus was identified as the Andes strain, triggering an international mobilization. This led to appropriate medical care for those exposed, in order to break potential chains of transmission as quickly as possible. The aim is to prevent a repeat of the situation during the Covid-19 pandemic, when low-income countries received vaccine doses long after wealthy countries.

The drafting of a sensitive annex to this treaty, however, continues to divide developed countries, where the major pharmaceutical industries are concentrated, and developing countries, which are more vulnerable to epidemics. This annex concerns the sharing of information gathered in the event of a pandemic and the distribution of medical products manufactured from this data. A tacit admission of the superiority of science over ideology.